Page 36 - Sonoma County Gazette April 2017

As As of January, Ken Savano was sworn in as Petaluma’s new Chief of Police. A Petaluma native with a deep-rooted respect and love of our community, Ken has local insight into what works and what doesn’t for our beloved town. If you spend any time in Petaluma, you have likely met the Chief already, because he is a part of just about every organization
in town, from Mentor Me Petaluma to the Petaluma Boys and Girls Club to Petaluma Sunrise Rotary to the United Anglers of Casa Grande High, where he graduated. Special thanks to departed Chief Williams for leaving some big shoes to fill, but if anyone is qualified to carry forward Chief Williams’ legacy, it’s Chief Ken Savano.
Chief Savano will continue PPD’s Community Policing Initiative, a program that assigns individual to one of 15 city districts. “These are long term assignments designed to improve communication and problem solving within smaller, more manageable areas within the city.” District Town Hall Meetings are a chance for residents to meet their beat officer, as well as learn about present crime trends and statistics and share crime prevention information. Visit local.nixle.com/alert/5877199/ for info on your district and when/where your district’s Town Hall Meeting will be held. The next meetings are from April 11 – April 19.
Petaluma Salty Krakens Swim Club has scheduled an open water swim at San Francisco’s Aquatic Park on Sunday, April 9. The Salty Krakens are a new non-competitive youth and adult swim program hosted at the Petaluma Swim Center. petalumasaltykrakens.org
Cotati Cop, Chris Kaupe, former K9 Team Officer Retires
The Idea Lounge is part of the Petaluma Art Center’s Out of the Box series, which features “collaborative activities that take place literally and figuratively outside the walls of the Arts Center and outside the typical art exhibition.” Hosted at Lagunitas Brewery, Idea Lounge invites two speakers, one from
a choice of self-governance as opposed of being sent to an institution to be controlled. Wouldn’t we all like that kind and fair honesty for ourselves and for our children?
the arts and one not, to give the audience a chance to learn how art and life intertwine. The next Lounge is April 20, with socializing at 6:30pm, followed by the presentation at 7:00pm. Local author Frances Rivetti will represent “Art.” Her recent books include Fog Valley Crush and Fog Valley Winter, both of which chronicle the North Bay’s bucolic history and modern food and farming trends. “Life” will be represented by Petaluma’s premier food event hostess Laura Sunday, whose topic is “The Passion of Roller-Dancing.” Laura is best known locally for creating the Taste of Petaluma, Great Petaluma Chili Cookoff, and Lagunitas Crab Feed. petalumaartscenter.org
When I praised O ce Kaupe for his past service as a K9 o cer and mentioned the demonstrations he conducted with his canine partner Koda,
he said, “My pleasure.” Canine o cers make a commitment far beyond a 9-to-5 job. They experience hours of intense training with their new partners. It’s a rewarding investment of time, energy, and hard work. Koda learned a similar love of duty and engagement from his human partner. Watching them work together was a joy. They demonstrated not only obedience skills but also commands and behaviors for locating illegal substances. O cer Kaupe would always reward his partner with a strong pull toy which they would play toss and catch or tug. Koda completed each command, and then sitting at heel, he adoringly looked up at his master’s face.
Petaluma Bounty will hold its Spring Plant Sale on Sun, April 23, from 9am-3pm at the Bounty Community Farm at 55 Shasta Ave. From heirloom tomatoes to peppers to lettuce to flowers, the $3 seedlings are ready to plant. Expert gardeners will be on hand to answer questions and there will be plenty of activities for the kids. www.petalumabounty.org
Being a dog lover I enjoyed observing O cer Kaupe’s clear body language and precise timing of commands. Great fun to witness Koda’s rapid responses. One year I asked a question at the end of the demonstration and got this response “We have bonded over years of intensive training camps. Canine school requires extreme commitment and long hours of perfect practice.”
Butter & Egg Days Parade and Festival kicks off at 8am on Sat, April 29 with the Petaluma Lion’s Club breakfast in the parking lot across from Putnam Plaza. At 10am, yours truly will compete once again at the Cow Chip Throwing Contest, followed by a stint as Master of Ceremonies on the announcement stand at the corner of 4th & C Streets. For those of you with little kiddos,
O cer Kaupe and Koda were always the stars of the show at the annual Mutt Strut, the Cotati-Rohnert Park Animal Shelter’s fundraiser held at
the Rohnert Park community center. Year after year they drew the largest audiences. They educated and entertained the community with family friendly demonstrations. BTW, Koda was taught and given his commands in German.
dress them up in chick attire and enter them into the Petaluma Egg Farm’s Cutest Chick Contest (707-763-0921 to enter.) The Sonoma County Vietnamese Association Lion Dance Team kicks off the pre-parade at 11:15am, followed by the Clover’s Kids’ Parade at 11:30. The main parade starts at noon. www. petalumadowntown.com
Admittedly, I felt sad when he told me he was retiring and moving to a farm in the southern United States. Yet I was happy to hear how thrilled he was at starting a fresh life, moving close to his wife’s family and living on a farm they had purchased. Same good man as Kaupe turns his attention to other skills and new adventures. Surely Cotati’s youth and adults will miss O cer Kaupe for
a very long time. So I sincerely say thanks for excellent community service as a beloved peace o cer.
The Petaluma Museum continues its Musical Mondays with “The Russian Spirit” (Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Moussorgsky, and Stravinsky) on April 3, “The English Spirit” (Elgar, Vaughn-Williams, Quilter and Finzi) on April 10, and “The Spanish Spirit” (DeFalla, Mompou, Granados, Albeniz) on April 17. Saluting the Petaluma men and women who answered the call to serve their country 100 years ago, the museum presents “A Call To Arms; The 100th Anniversary of World War I” exhibit, a Petaluma perspective through music, letters, newspapers, and more. The Petaluma Museum will also hold its annual History Trails Walk on Sun, April 23. This walk through historic downtown is your chance to meet Petaluma’s most colorful past characters, along with stops at historic points of interest through the walk. petalumamuseum.com.
36 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 4/17
Enter a returning young adult looking for a home in Cotati
This issue’s theme is family. To some, it may seem unusual to consider
police o cers family, but not to me. Growing up in Northern California, I had an uncle who worked as a police o cer for the City of Redding. Our uncle, Harold Snow, loved to tease my sister and me each time he saw us. He and my Aunt Barbara had two sons, Michael and Gray, so we girls brought out a girl centric teasing silliness. City of Cotati O cer Chris Kaupe has retired. I had the pleasure of seeing and hearing O cer Kaupe in action and witness his cool- headed sense and strength.
If you have never met O cer Kaupe, he is a likeable man with a big smile who has been a faithful community police o cer for 12 years. I recently chatted up Kaupe at Pete’s Co ee while he hosted a Co ee with a Cop. For forty minutes the o cers took our questions as Kaupe continued to greet people entering. He warmly o ered each a complimentary co ee. No sales pitch or explanation. “Hello, would you like a free co ee?” His partner seemed to be enjoying Kaupe’s brilliant smile and enthusiastic 7AM greeting.
I happened to be nearby when O cer Kaupe gave an angry teenager advice about keeping choices and privileges. He showed a dose of Irish fire and passion for family unity. He defined the values of respect, kindness, etc. and spoke to raise respect for personal boundaries. Making it clear that freedom required the learning of self-control. In the time I listened, although he spoke with authority, he did not denigrate the individual teen. He kept o ering
I would watch the ashes of delight on the faces of the children and the parents as they performed.
One afternoon, I walked to feel the sun on my face. A well-dressed young woman with black briefcase was walking up the left lane. We waved hello. Walking away I sensed I had seen her before. We passed again and stopped to chat. Her features are like her mother Lynn’s. Turns out Krista Neary had once lived on Honor Court. At that time, our daughter was the same age as her older sister. Krista Neary had walked into the Hunter’s Ridge neighborhood and was pleased to see the mellow friendly place she knew as a child. Today, Neary works for Edward Jones and is chatting with new investment clients. You may reach her at 707-762-0611. Neary wants an a ordable home. Hoping the new project o Old Redwood Highway between Honor Court and Fehler Lane to the west may o er her an a ordable first home