Southern Sonoma Country Life

Word of the Week - Furlough

What exactly does Furlough mean? We've all seen it on the school boards around Petaluma this past week and made various action plans to take advantage of (or in some cases, cope with) a couple of extra days with the kids off school, but you have to admit, it's a bit of an odd-bird as a word, isn't it?

Hence the return of "Word of the Week" which was on hiatus, or maybe furlough for a few months, here at Sonoma Country life, popular though it was.

According to the fountains of knowledge, a furlough is a layoff, especially a temporary one, from a place of employment.

ORIGIN early 17th cent.: from Dutch verlof, modeled on German Verlaub, of West Germanic origin and related to leave.

Chatting on the phone this Sunday morning to my sister, Lindsey, herself a teacher in the UK, she was quite reasonably baffled by my report that I'd used this past week's furlough to fit in a quick trip to the snow with the younger two of my three boys.

"What's a furlough?" she asked. Equally reasonably astonished that city-wide school staff received not a penny's pay for these dates that were slashed unceremoniously from the academic calendar to make some small amends for the general state of affairs here in California, it was most definitely a cross-cultural ahem moment. Sad really, isn't it?

Except for the fact that seemingly half of Petaluma's school-aged community threw some degree of caution to the wind and wound up keeping one another company on the cheaper slopes of the snow-tipped Sierras!

Couldn't resist this snapshot (taken with the expert lens of my co-navigator, Gail F on a Mums-and-sons snowboarding, furlough fun-break) of the welcoming sight of an empty parking lot at the Tahoe Donner resort.

 

A private, mid-week resort experience at least until we'd made it into the snowboard rental area, in which we were pleasantly reunited with dozens of fellow Petalumans clearly on the same savvy mission.

Gail took some spectacular photos, several of her shots (being an artist at large with camera tucked into her ski jacket) taken as reflections on the cafeteria window.

Fantastic driving conditions made this a fair-weather skier's dream-come-true. That and the fact that after 19-years of parenting, I have finally accomplished a status-quo of everyone able to stand on two feet from top of the chair lift to bottom of slope. No mean feat let me tell you. Patience is a virtue.

 

  

 

Visual Thinking for 21st Century Students - Innovation Funded by a PEF Major Impact Grant

Over 800 students throughout Old Adobe, La Tercera and Miwok Elemetary Schools will benefit from a $15,000 Major Impact Grant from Petaluma Educational Foundation, funding a state-of-the-art program that teaches children new and innovative methods of how to learn, communicate and think creatively, critically and independently.

The second (Sonoma Country Life Sponsor) PEF Major Impact Grant to be featured, Visual Thinking For 21st Century Citizens uses classic art masterpieces to invite and promote motivational, challenging conversation and conclusions, based on evidence.

"VTS uses technology to activate the frontal lobe of the brain by deep thinking, contemplation and articulation required to engage in thoughtful discussions involving art or other subject areas," explains Ken Schwinn, Principal of Petaluma's La Tercera School.

"This grant will  truly have a major impact for years to come for Old Adobe Schools. There is another Visual Thinking Strategies event coming up in Petaluma. We aim to grow this program to all schools in Petaluma and want more people to know and understand why it is so wonderful," says Diane Zimmerman, Superintendent, Old Adobe Union of an event to introduce the program to educators in the area. The event takes place at the Petaluma Arts Center, Thursday February 4th, 2010 from 4-6pm. To find out more about this fascinating new educational tool, rsvp to attend the event.

Superintendent Zimmerman is pictured above, second from right, with Janet Ramatici, Executive Director of PEF (left), Carol Ann Libarle, PEF Board Member/VP Fundraising and JRick Parker, President of OAUSD School Board.

Petaluma Educational Foundation's Board has been extremely busy this January, out and about in the educational community presenting Major Impact Grant awards amounting so far this new year, to $96,281:

Wilson Elementary: "Accelerated Education in Math and Reading" for $14,427 -directly affecting 202 students.

Corona Creek Elementary: "Educating the Digital Generation" for $15,000 -directly affecting 481 students.

Kenilworth Junior High: "Junior High Fitness Circuit" for $15,000 -directly affecting 1,014 students.

Petaluma High School: "Advanced Agriculture Art and Iron Working" for $11,700 partnership with Rotary Club of Petaluma -directly affecting 85 students (featured here last week).

Grant Elementary: "Engagement, Accessibility and Achievement for All" for $10,154 partnership with Grant School parent group -directly affecting 353 students.

Old Adobe Union School District - Old Adobe, La Tercera and Miwok Elementary: "Visual Thinking for the 21st Century Citizens" for $15,000 - directly affecting 870 students (featured above).

McDowell Elementary: "SMART Board Technologies" for $15,000 -directly affecting 316 students.

With additional funding, several more cutting-edge programs will be added to the award recipient list in the next few weeks, including a new "Learning Garden" for $5,000 in partnership with Barbara's Bakery -directly affecting 100% student body in a school to be announced.

A city-wide, 3rd Grade Science Program at Shollenberger Park, administered by Petaluma Wetlands Alliance for $5,000 in partnership with Petaluma Chapter of Realtors -available to all 50 third class classrooms in all Petaluma area schools was announced last Fall.

Ten Thousand Years of Sarum - a Monumental Read

Can I just say that I am accustomed to whipping through a paperback in a week or two, stacking those I relish on the bookcase and gradually building myself a small library. I'm not typically attracted to the epic, though if it comes with stellar reviews from trusted friends and fellow book worms, I'll occasionally give one a go. Or at least allow it a little space on the 'to read' stack on my bedside table.

Then along came Sarum, 1000 plus page, tiny print 1988 debut novel by best selling historian Edward Rutherford (pen name for one Francis Edward Wintle - Cambridge University and Stanford scholar) - following the fortunes and failures, trials and tribulations of five distinctive families from the Stone Age through to present day.

This renowned ' sweeping saga' of the area surrounding Stonehenge and Salisbury, in Southern England, spans 10,000 years of family life in the area, through the Neolithic period to the Druids' Stonehenge, Roman times, Saxons, Celts, Norman castle conundrums, Elizabethan departures into seafaring, farming, weaving, the printing press, the lure of North America, Victorian era, World War II and into the 1980s. 

I must have had the book a good two or three years. Gifted to me by my most trusted source of 'must-reads' as a birthday present. "Have you read it yet?" she asked. Several times over the past few years. I was getting to it. Always getting to it. Though somehow another two or three new reads would always usurp its place on the pile.

Quite when I finally succumbed and tentatively turned the first page, I'm not absolutely sure. Some time around mid October of last year, I'd hazard a guess. Three months to read a novel is not my usual standard. Am I ashamed to admit it? Not a bit. For to experience Rutherfurd's Salem (he had returned to his childhood home in nearby Salisbury to write this first, incredible novel), is to surrender one's precious portion of reading time each evening (or whatever time of day you like to read) for a mere blink in the astonishing time line of the story's setting. 

American culture tends to sweep through ancient history at times, certainly, I can never conceive of the concept of racing around Europe taking in as many countries as possible in a whirlwind, 10-day tour. To truly absorb history, a book like Sarum starts at the very beginning and paces the reader with imaginative scenarios of believable people. Linking the five families through time was a magnificent move and I am ready now to take up Rutherfurd's later "London" and "New York" amongst his five best sellers following Sarum.

With much of the action taking place around Salisbury Cathedral (two miles from the original Neolithic site of old Sarum) and hints throughout the saga as to the steady decline of the Cathedral's medieval spire, I wasn't surprised to read an author's note at the back of the book calling for international support for a 1985-launched spire appeal.

Digging a bit deeper into the on-going story of Sarum, a successful $10 million Cathedral Spire Appeal has since seen substantial repairs and conservation of the spire, tower and west front of this magnificent building. Costing around $20,000 a day to keep the Cathedral open, an additional $30 million plus campaign program followed hot on the spire appeal's heels. Keeping history alive is not an easy or affordable task. Read Sarum and you'll have an entirely new appreciation for the value of preservation of historic sites that have had and continue to have such vast influence on civilization as we know it.

Petaluma Rotary Funds Future of Agricultural Community with PEF Major Impact Grant

 
In the first of a series of weekly posts on (Sonoma Country Life Sponsor) Petaluma Educational Foundation's new and recently awarded Major Impact Grants, the focus is on positive and substantial benefits to boosting classroom and school-wide programs in a wide variety of our city's schools. 

Petaluma Rotary Club President Tom Brandal and former President Ralph Sartori are pictured here presenting Petaluma High School Agricultural Art Teacher, Danny Aschwanden with a check for $11,701 to fund an Advanced Agriculture Art and Ironworking vocational training program that will add ornamental iron working to the advanced metal fabrication class in the school's ag department.

Students are set to design, fabricate and display various types of metalworking projects at city, county and state fairs.

"Investing in the future of so many students here in Petaluma is a way to give back to a department that has given so much to our community," said Sartori.

"Although a variety of learning styles are used in the classroom, the foremost is kinesthetic," said Aschwanden. "For those who learn best by doing, touching and feeling, the advantage through a hands-on approach fulfills their need for activity and exploration."

Petaluma Rotary, an organization that has been influential in Petaluma since 1923, distributes grants through its philanthropic foundation. The major impact grant awarded to PHS for agricultural art and ironworking was partially funded by the foundation in partnership with PEF.

Speaking of the many worthy causes within the educational community for selection of grants, Brandal said: "though budgets are tight, this area will produce a lasting benefit to the community."

Executive Director of PEF, Janet Ramatici told a packed-library of staff at PHS that the school's outstanding ag program had been selected from a shortlist of 10 finalists amongst a competitive pool of 24 applicants for the foundation's innovative major impact grants. 

Nine major impact grants have been announced this January, with the potential of one or two additional high profile educational programs to be approved if sufficient funding is secured from within the business/corporate or private Petaluma community.

Major Impact Grants for 2010 and 2011 represent the evolution of classroom instruction for the digital generation, innovations to succeed with diverse learning styles and developing skills for success in the future. Rejecting the impact of budget deficits, these substantial grants range from vocational training such as the art in agricultural ironworking program to health and fitness, nutrition, technology, math and literacy.

 

A Fiddler in the North - Aqus Community's Scottish Knees Up for Robbie Burns Night

 

Scotland's poet, lyricist, scoundrel, thorn in the side of the Calvinists (yes, that included the Puritans) and to top it all, a some-time tax collector, Robert Burns is better known world-wide today as the Ploughman's Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire and undoubtedly, Scotland's son.

Having pioneered the romantic movement in his preservation and revamping of liberal, socialistic folk songs in both his native Scottish language and dialectal English, Burns penned all-time international favorites such as Auld Lang Syne, Tam O'Shanter and A Red, Red Rose. 

Must have been a passionate life well lived from the handsome poet's perspective, despite the fact that he died prematurely at age 37. For the Bard of Ayrshire fathered over a dozen children (though not all of them survived infancy) with numerous paramours over his years of renown, which led to nothing less than cult following in the two centuries proceeding his passing in 1796.

A stirring evening of tartan, red roses, pipes, fiddles, song and story telling took place down at Petaluma's Aqus Cafe this Burns Night, a rainy Monday in which the glow of a warm, cozy gathering would have cheered the poet on.

Co-owner John Crowley (coyly modeling the red, red rose, above, alongside Aqus Cafe's fellow-Irish host, Michael) offered a traditional Selkirk Grace to the welcoming toast, parading the Haggis (second from top) before an accompanying bagpiper. Big scene for a small space, in which sixty or more proud-as-punch Scottish Americans and interested on-lookers (more than a handful of neighborly English, including co-owner and hostess with the mostest for the evening, Lesley) enjoyed a slap-up, winter's dinner of Crowley's gourmet cock-a-leekie soup (a rich concoction of chicken, leeks, stock and prunes), huge portions of Shepherd's Pie and Veggie Mash, shortbread with whipped (highland-style) cream and berries.

Memorialized as the national dish of Scotland in Burns' poem "Address to Hagis" - 1787 - it's perhaps best to think of the sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver and lungs) minced with oatmeal, spices, suet and onion and simmered in the sheep's stomach for a few, long hours as more of a sausage than an outrage. Having said that, I had somehow successfully eluded a taste of a Scottish haggis until then. Not one to be a prude when it comes to strange and unusual foods, I found myself in line (not a stampede, mind you, but a pleasant, well-mannered line - "You go first, no you.... be my guest"!) for a wee taster of the wondrous looking plateful, which actually resembled something that would fit right in out here in Southern SoCo and the wilds of West Marin.

And you know what? It wasn't all that weird at all. Rather like a little tapenade, only without the olive oil. Wouldn't want to make an entire meal of it, mind you.

Thoroughly enjoyed the (keep it clean) sight of men in kilts, daggers a ready in their long, woolen socks, sporrans, tartan sashes and heathered brooches on the older ladies, a tiny bit of the highlands here in rain-soaked Sonoma County. What better way to spend a wet and windy Monday night?

Katarina Cab and Lime Cilantro Pork Chops From the Farm

So far so good. Remembered to collect the first food box from Tara Firma Farm from the Mail Depot in town on Thursday afternoon.

Raced home to have a recce of its contents, bagged cilantro and fresh veggies and stashed plump pork chops at the back of the fridge for Sunday night's dinner. 

Something about the sight of top-notch meat appearing on the home front reminds the Italian husband to reconnect with his inner caveman and thus, secured a verbal promise that he'd be the one to griddle cook the family meal after coming in from work.

You can ask me to bake you a cake, whip up a batch of brownies, a lovely lemon tart or a sheet of oatmeal raisin cookies, but being the only female in a man cave of many, I'm not about to put up a fight to gain control of the carnivorous culinary department.

Needless to say, the pork chops were sumptuous. Extremely tasty. Quite unlike the extra store-bought, solo chop I'd had to pick up that afternoon to make up a fifth portion (draw back for any family of five considering a member commitment for farm box deliveries - it's a little like the hotel room deal, that extra special someone in the famiglia pushes all packages of four off the edge and into duplicate designations).

Chopped, farm-fresh baby new potatoes were cooked with cilantro stove top, according to the handy dandy Tara Firma recipe sheet considerately tucked into the delivery box: garlic and sea salt and sliced leeks as an added bonus.

Sauteed kale completed the scene plate-side. A superb debut for the quest for more environmentally sustainable, natural, humane and fresh farm food. 

A fine bottle of (SF wine competition & Harvest Fair) gold-medal winning Alexander Valley Katarina Cab could not have been put to better use than for a pairing with this winter's Sunday nosh and an after-dinner nibble of oven-warmed espresso brownie with a dollop of Ben and Jerry's Neapolitan Dynamite. Oh dear!

Petaluma's Regency Period - A Revolutionary Tale

Far away, over the pond and a long time past, the Regency Period in England was renowned as an age of somewhat pompous elegance yielding indisputable accomplishments both in fine arts and in architecture. Much of it extravagant, as perhaps best illustrated by the famous extremes of the then Prince Regent's lavish, Indo-Saracenic seaside retreat of Brighton Pavilion.

Encompassing a time of immense social, political and economic transition, the glamorous Regency Period is widely considered to have taken place between 1811, about the time that poor, old King George III was declared quite mad and therefore unfit to rule the country (not to mention earlier, monumental defeat to one or two others) leading to the proxy reign of his decadent son, the Prince Regent through to 1820 when he finally took over his daddy's throne for good.

Transitioning the solid, conservative Georgian and more elaborate, industrially explosive Victorian eras, the original Regency era might have represented a time of excess for the powerful but for those with a more humble vantage point, it was a period of great uncertainty, poverty, riot and unrest.

Income Tax was abolished, informative, politically exposing newspapers began to roll with the advent of the mechanical press, the call for eventual Parliamentary reform was begun.

Gotta hand it to Petaluma's independent, political news hound of today's fast-paced and fearless internet era, Frank Simpson for opening up a grand dialog on a local level for flamboyant goings-on within the present 'Regency Period' right here in our seemingly peaceful little Western river town. For what happens next will surely shape the city of Petaluma for the present generation's lifespan and impact the next in its wake.

And when it comes right down to it, isn't it all about the architecture? Our very own period drama. What, where and when to build and what it says about our current state of practical civilization.

Petaluma Educational Foundation's Big Night Out at Graziano's

 

Not that there were any gangsters amongst the jovial 'mob' packing Graziano's Ristorante on the boulevard on Petaluma's bustling restaurant row this rainy Saturday night, though a passing diner could well have mistaken the evening's mega-energetic vibe inside as an upbeat Italian trattoria closer to Artie Bucco's restaurant, Vesuvio in the hit HBO Soprano's series than a sleepy Southern Sonoma County local.

And that's what we love about Graziano's. The glam, the potential for glitz, the gathering of a community of familiar characters, vodka, cocktails, sumptuous Italian cuisine and a chef and kitchen crew that famously come into their element with a maximum crowd.

Despite the economy their was no shortage of support for (Sonoma Country Life Sponsor)  Petaluma Educational Foundation's first big-time, dine-out fundraiser, complete with a rock and roll after dinner club scene upstairs in Graziano's cozy club room.

Jostling for a space at the city's slickest bar, I managed to steer a bottle of Ridgeway's Pinot Noir over to our shared table for dinner, pleasantly surprised to find that the Petaluma Gap pinot was the most affordable on Graziano's wine list for that popular varietal. A perfect pairing with the Italian Husband's dinner pick of a classic Graziano specialty a roasted rack of lamb braised with brandy and red wine demi-glaze and a fine compromise for the wild Atlantic salmon special that peaked my appetite.

Crispy calamari, melt-in-the-mouth eggplant parmigiana and filet mignon with porcini mushroom demi-glaze graced our group table with individual dishes delivered in an impressive fashion considering the frenzy of packed tables filling every possible inch of what remains without a doubt the patriarch of fine Italian dining not just here in Petaluma, but throughout the south county. 

Loved the fact that Graziano (who generously donated 25% of the evening's dinner bills, door proceeds from the after-supper rock and roll session and a hefty portion of drink prices to PEF- more to follow when totals are in) has rolled back plate prices on his classic menu.

Proof is in the pudding that business can be brisk if priced accordingly to the market conditions and the Petaluma public knows a fair deal when it sees one.

A green salad with slithers of fennel and fava beans was ample enough to share, though I couldn't help but notice that many guests who'd stopped in for a pre-rock cocktail swiftly succumbed to a platter of oysters, or two. 

By the time I'd placed my order I'd heard news that an unaccompanied by a PEF-friend diner had spontaneously donated a sweet $1,000 to the students of Petaluma. And despite the deserving donations that have poured out of town for Haiti this past week, the public still felt compelled to put their dollars in the coffers to improve education here at home.

    

Secondhand Love - Proof in Art that One Man's Junk is another Man's Treasure

Appropriately timed for Valentine's Day, SoCo's smallest gallery with the biggest heart is set to stage a one-night-only rather clever, "Second Hand Love" revamped Art Show from  6 pm to 9 pm.

Drew Washer and her irrepressible enclave of constant creatives are putting together this one-off event, in which featured works of eclectic art by a talented, Southern Sonoma County crew can be purchased at the end of the evening - just in time for gifting to your loved one on the 14th! 

Once  again  a roster  of extremely diverse artists will show their interpretations of love using  thrift  store art as a starting point," says Drew. All of the artists are very  excited by the theme and we hope  that you will be surprised and delighted as well!"

Now there's inspiration for you. If you can't make it down to Boomerang on Kentucky Street on Saturday evening prior to Valentine's, how about putting paint to an old print or creating a collage of your own most romantic snapshots and memorabilia? Who wouldn't prefer a hand made something in place of the tired old Papyrus card?!

Lamenting North Bay's Train to Nowhere

Sonoma County's newest mecca for art and music, the Petaluma Arts Center, located in the city's gloriously transformed Freight Building on Lakeville won't too likely be welcoming the arrival of light rail passengers any time soon.

Feeling considerably ripped-off from having willingly signed up for a half cent tax hike to pay for extortionately costly commuter rail , the people of Sonoma County are not impressed at this week's gloomy railway news.

Originally having hoped for slick new trains rolling through the center of town here in Petaluma by 2014, proponents of the much-lauded SMART train campaign heard this week that the region's on-going economic strife has forced a project funding shortfall of a whopping $175 mill. Hardly a big surprise to many who have long since been doubtful as to the true economic and practical viability of this form of commute transit considering the cost balanced with the indisputable fact that the end of the track would always be on the wrong side of the SF Bay.

Though considering the massive amounts of million plus monies already invested coupled with the sales tax commitment, maybe, just maybe if North Bay communities keep up shelling out the added dollars, some sort of SMART train service will show up in the northern part of the region in around six years time. In the meantime, there is the tiniest possibility that work slated to start on the track at Larkspur next year might make it as far as Petaluma in the following two or three years. As for Santa Rosa, Windsor and Cloverdale -we'd better start focusing on the widening of the 101 at the Novato straits. Sounds like the automobile and the good, old commuter bus will continue to be the ticket for southern commute for quite some time ahead.

What do you think? Should sales tax for the SMART Train project should be rolled back? What are our other alternatives for ferrying North Bay workers into the city and connecting communities with one another via environmentally sound transportation? Huge questions and vitally important that limited resources within the region are put to sensible use.