Southern Sonoma Country Life

Help Transform Local Lives This Giving Tuesday With a Gift to COTS

A great way to give back to our community on a consistently caring basis is by staggering donations over recurring payments. 

It never ceases to amaze me what we're able to do when we pool or resources this way, especially in Sonoma County where people really do rally to make it as great a place as possible to live for everyone, whatever their circumstances. 

Petaluma's Committee on the Shelterless is an extraordinary program. Please consider a one-time donation of any size this Giving Tuesday, during the holiday season or a recurring donation over the next year or more. 

Click here for more info. 

Rebuilding Together Petaluma — Make a Difference With a Few Dollars on Giving Tuesday

One of my favorite Southern SoCo non-profits, Rebuilding Together Petaluma's most pressing need right now is to raise $2800 to install a ramp and other wheelchair accommodations for a 28-year-old Petaluma man who was recently paralyzed by a stroke.

This young man is ready to be released from the care facility he has been treated at but first his mother’s mobile home must be modified. Together their combined income is $13,000 per year. They need the help of our community.

"We also have two seniors with critical health and safety home modification needs that must be taken care of before the rain hits this winter," says Rebuilding Together's Exec Director Jane Hamilton. "You can make a significant difference in how warm or safe a Petaluma neighbor with very limited income will be living throughout this holiday season".

Please consider a tax deductible gift, large or small to Rebuilding Together Petaluma this holiday season. Giving to RTP is a unique bargain, since every dollar given results in $4 worth of home health and safety improvements to those who need it most. The labor of Rebuilding Together's amazing army of volunteers quadruples the effect of your charity dollars.

Donate online at www.rtpetaluma.org or call 707-765-3944 or mail to 402 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma, CA  94952

With our community's help Rebuilding Together has completed 57 home repair projects in 2015!

Great Wonders in Small Works — Aqus Cafe at Foundry Wharf Holiday Art Show

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Park the Car and Head Downtown — It's Small Business Saturday, November 28th

photo via Pinterest

Small Business Saturday is November 28th. It's the day to source the best of locally produced goods and to shop with our favorite Mom and Pop businesses here in Sonoma County. 

Here in downtown Petaluma, Small Business Saturday is an all-day affair and if you give yourself sufficient time to peruse the many great businesses and storefronts decorated for the big day, you'll save yourself all sorts of aggravation in the mall. 

You're not shopping only for you and yours, you'll be keeping vital dollars in your community. Santa arrives by boat in Petaluma's River Plaza around noon. Get there early for a local shopping canvas bag giveaway. 

Saturday's downtown shopathon kick starts the holiday season here in the South County. Click here to download Petaluma's complete Holiday Events Guide. 

Giving Thanks Southern Sonoma Country Style

"Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast".

~William Shakespeare

It's the little things. Yorkshire Puddings, kissing cousin to American Popovers are my favorite British/American addition to my Southern Sonoma County Thanksgiving Table. They conjure memories of the roast dinners of my rural English childhood when I never, in my wildest dreams, would have imagined cooking an American Thanksgiving meal for a family of my own. 

And so I give a multitude of thanks for life's adventures and for the wonderful people (and beloved animals) who've shared this colorful journey along the way. 

How fortunate I am to be right here, right now, a part of such a diverse and fabulous community of international friends and neighbors and yet still so connected with my far-flung UK family. 

Wishing you and yours a day of peaceful gathering as we celebrate each in our own ways and collectively in a warm and grounded, signature Southern Sonoma Country style.

 

Fit-For-The-Ultimate Foodies — A Feast of Plenty — Escape For Thanksgiving at Sir & Star At The Olema

 

Thanksgiving is fast approaching. If you happen to find yourself in the no-plan department for Turkey Day this year, Sir & Star At the Olema offers the ultimate foodies' farm-to-table feast. 

If you're within driving distance of Olema in wild and wonderful West Marin, then you might make a day of it, but for readers farther afield, overnight options at The Boathouse (a 10 minute drive from Sir & Star) include a roaring fire with views of Tomales Bay, lapping waves and morning birdsong. 

Rooms are also available to The Hotel Olema, stylish, historical home to Sir & Star. How about a suite at the Druid's Hall?  

Chef/Owners of Manka's, Sir and Star, Hotel Olema, The Druid's Hall and The Olema Schoolhouse, Margaret Grade and Daniel Delong invite you to the Orphan's Tables of up to 12 people at two servings: 4 pm and 7 pm. 

Call for reservations and rates. For dinner reservations click here for the restaurant's website. To stay at the couple's Inverness property, call 415.669.1034. For rooms in their Olema properties call 415.663.1034. 

It's A Wonderful Life! A Brand New Petaluma Holiday Tradition — Join The Party December 5th, 2015

Celebrate The Season Big Band-Style with Aqus Community

A Very Special, Vintage-Themed Holiday Party at

Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, Saturday, December 5th, 2015 

Community members, friends, guests and newcomers to Sonoma County are invited to take part in a spectacularly fun new holiday tradition, this December 5th, 2015.

"It's A Wonderful Life" themed party takes place at Petaluma's Historical Library and Museum, in the heart of the city's downtown heritage district.

Tickets are just $25 per person and profits will benefit the museum's vital capital campaign to restore and protect this beautiful building.

"Everyone is invited," says John Crowley of Aqus Community." Museum supporters and first time visitors alike, all, over aged 21 are welcome. We wanted to create an opportunity for all Petalumans to gather together, get dressed up and celebrate this iconic Petaluma treasure.”

Aqus Community's event team has designed this inaugural holiday party at the museum as the first of a brand new Petaluma holiday tradition.

Ted Langford's Little Big Band is set to play live tunes from the 1940s on while partygoers are encouraged to dress up in dressy vintage attire and step out in style. Prizes will be awarded in a James Stewart and Donna Reed lookalike contest.

Complimentary hors d'oeuvres and sweets are included in the ticket price. Local wine, beer and cocktails will be available for purchase. Festive partygoers are encouraged to practice their limbo and bring their dance cards!  

Harry Nieuwboer, President of the Petaluma Museum Association comments “A vintage-style holiday gala is an ideal way to raise community awareness of the museum's work and its future needs".

$25 Tickets available online at: http://aqus.com/museum/ or at the Petaluma Museum, 20 Fourth St. and Aqus Café, 189 H St., Petaluma.

The mission of the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum is to preserve and protect the history of Petaluma, to protect its artifacts and to provide educational and cultural services to the Community.

The cornerstone for Petaluma's stately Carnegie Library was laid in 1904. Local architect, Brainerd Jones designed the building in the neo-classical style, featuring original fan-glass windows, round leaded-glass windows, interior wood paneling and columns. It was constructed from locally quarried stone. It features the largest freestanding leaded glass dome in Northern California.

It was one of 2,509 library buildings built in towns and neighborhoods throughout the English-speaking world between 1886 and 1919 with the aid of Carnegie funds. 

Six Carnegie Libraries were built in Sonoma County. Only three remain today. Healdsburg’s Carnegie Library is also a museum and the city of Sonoma’s houses its Visitors Bureau. Aqus Community is delighted to focus its efforts this holiday season on helping to maintain this Petaluma treasure for future generations to enjoy and encourages everyone to come raise a glass to preserve this historic landmark. 

15th Annual Petaluma Arts Center Members Exhibition and Salon, on view from December 6, 2025 through January 24, 2016.

The Petaluma Arts Center announces The 15^th Annual PAC Members Exhibition and Salon, one of my favorite art buying/gifting opportunities each year, on view from December 6, 2025 through January 24, 2016. The opening reception is Saturday December 5 from 4:00-7:00 p.m.

Featured artist for 2015 is Hella Merrill, who works on metal and is a longtime artist member of the Arts Center.

Petaluma Arts Center is a non-profit arts hub, located next to the upcoming SMART station in midtown Petaluma, where people discover the enriching and provocative power of the arts. PAC offers arts education, docent tours, events, and five exhibitions annually.

“The members’ exhibition is eagerly anticipated every year,” said Val Richman, Executive Director of PAC. “Petaluma is a hotbed of talent and we are thrilled to showcase artists whose work represents a large variety of techniques, mediums and innovative designs. Many people do their holiday shopping at this exhibition; original art makes a wonderful gift.”

The 15^th Annual PAC Members Exhibition and Salon features artwork as varied as the hundreds of artist members in the Petaluma area.  

Run of Exhibition tickets are $5 general; $4 for seniors, students and military. PAC members and children 12 and under are free.

Hours

Thursday through Monday 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays and holidays.

Events

Opening Reception, Saturday December 5, 4:00 – 7:00 p.m.

Petaluma Readers Theatre, two nights of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”, Friday and Saturday December 11 and 12, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 general, $12 senior/students/military, $10 PAC members.

The Scattered Winds Quintet, Sunday December 13, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 general, $12 senior/students/military, $10 PAC members.

 

Featured artist Hella Merrill says, “I think of myself as an alchemist. I work on sheets of brass or copper. I initiate a pattern on the metal surface by applying a concoction of natural solutions that might include salt, ammonia, vinegar and other materials. As the metal responds to the solutions a magical alchemy takes place. Images, patterns and textures emerge achieving paradoxical results with no obvious explanation. It's about exploring light, texture and depth of image on a hard, flat, reflective surface.

She also likes to work outdoors: "The heat, cold and moisture in the air impact my work by changing the resulting colors," she says.  "Sometimes images are revealed right away while others come up days later. The panel is then washed and allowed to cure. The slow process has taught me patience. I'm fascinated with the form within a form, by the things I can and cannot control, by the happy accidents. The "found" images are an interaction between the controlled and the unpredictable. The process offers me a deeper understanding of the Buddhists way of knowing and not knowing, controlling and letting go, all lessons I can apply to my own life.”

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Events pages at PetalumaArtsCenter.org.

Petaluma Arts Center is located at 230 Lakeville Street, Petaluma, 94952. Entrance to the parking lot is from East Washington Street. 

Housed in the historic Railroad Station freight building, next to the Petaluma Visitors Center, Petaluma Arts Center hosts art exhibitions, performances, art classes, literary and film lectures, and events. The Arts Center grew out of the grassroots Petaluma Arts Council, founded in 1998 with a goal of acknowledging and celebrating local artists and their contributions. The council opened the arts center in September 2008. Located next to the upcoming SMART commuter train station in developing Midtown Petaluma, the arts center is experiencing a renaissance along with the growth of the arts in Sonoma County.

Gifting Art for the Holidays — Top Picks for Southern Sonoma County Shoppers

Paris We Love You

Paris, nous t'aimons.