Page 44 - Sonoma County Gazette - May 2019

I made many promises to our Mother Earth on Earth Day.
Recovery. It’s good to see our area cleaned up and most businesses re-opened with other businesses re-opening soon in time for the tourist high season. The county did a great job helping us when we needed it the most. Hopefully this will be another strong tourist season.
I know we all talk the big talk and we think about all the things we want to do to defend and protect our planet, which is mind blowing when you think of the finest and smallest of intricacies as well as all the majestic beauty. But how far are you willing to go? I might be ‘preaching to the choir’ as many of our west coast residents are very in touch with all this.
I promise to: not buy poisons to use in or around my house and yard, to go organic every chance I get including with food I eat so that in the long run we are supporting the right folks, to shop local at our farmers markets, to make sure the bees have water, to buy non toxic hoses so our pets are happy for a long time, to stop and appreciate all the amazing plants growing around us.
I promise to: to never ask for a straw, and to share about the harm plastics are doing to our oceans, rivers, lakes and thus the harm in the many creatures that live in them, to pick up trash on my walks, to find a way to protect plants and animals that need protecting, to encourage my grandchildren to see the amazing beauty of this earth (call them and ask them to look at the full moon and remind them it is the same moon I am seeing and share the ‘wow’ of that), to take them to all the wonders of the world, and to give back by giving my time energy and resources. Mother Earth you have provided for millions and millions and millions of people. Please be patient as we all sort out how to be better stewards and to love one another.
If you plan on attending the Mother’s Day Breakfast benefit for the Timber Cove Fire Protection on May 12th, you will certainly be surrounding yourself with a whole lotta love for one another. The breakfast/brunch is at Plantation Farm from 9:30 to 11:30 on Kruse Ranch Road. This is hometown food and everything is perfect including the flowers and service. It is a great way to get out and see the coastal area, and see friends.
Understanding how our government works is always a moving target. It seems that whenever you think things are better, under-control, and on auto- pilot, they aren’t. While criminal activity is up in Guerneville as well as Monte Rio, our Sheriff’s department is cutting back folks in the Guerneville sub- station due to budget cuts again. Our roads and infrastructure long neglected now require more work and funding due to the recent flood damage.
Loving one another comes in many shapes and sizes.
I won’t even go into the drama occurring at our local fire district lately. There will also be funds available to assist in starting up local special tax districts where either property owners or businesses can tax themselves more to obtain basic services that our tax dollars should already be paying for.
While you are on Kruse Ranch Road it is totally worth a visit to the
Kruse Ranch Rhododendron Reserve. The trails are beautiful and full of rhododendrons blooming at this time of year. Wild beauty! Here is a link for more information parks.ca.gov/?page_id=448.
What does this mean? That it will take the ongoing efforts of residents, businesses, and community groups to continue to demand a basic level of government services in our River area, so we can all live in safe welcoming communities and our businesses can thrive with happy tourists. On a positive note, we have more people with more drive than ever before to make this difference, which is great.
Thanks to all that have contributed time and money to the
flood recovery efforts. There are more events planned and I learned about another one working with the Russian River Alliance that should be at the top of the salesforce tower in the fall. The support from people in the City has been so gratifying. Thanks to Rodger Jensen for his Flood Aid Love Wins weekend last month.
Monte Rio Rec & Park welcomes its newest board director Paul DuBray! We now have a full board again and should be ready for beach season and Independence Weekend fireworks soon. Our fireworks are sponsored by MRRPD, Monte Rio Fire Foundation, and Monte Rio Chamber. The Chamber is putting on their 19th annual golf tournament to support the fireworks on Friday May 3rd at Northwood.
Vacation Wonderland, we just keep getting better.
Saina has mixed heritage of native Siberian people—Sakha and Evenk—
and has represented the culture of her ancestors all around the world. She
is an Honored Artist of the Republic of Sakha, Russia. Saina performs with traditional musical instruments like the Khamus (jaw harp) and a drum, and her repertoire range from traditional ethnic music to jazz. Thank you to Global Harmony Series and Harmony Susalla.
On Saturday May 18th up in beautiful Annapolis, Baku will perform at
the Annapolis Winery. Baku features the talents of Harrison Goldberg, saxophones and percussion, Chris Doering, 7-string guitar and guitar synthesizer, Tim Mueller, 6-string guitar and guitar synthesizer, David French, upright bass and percussion, and Nancy Feehan, cajon and percussion, Baku
is known for their unique jazz, Afro-Beat, Middle Eastern, and other World Music influences and rhythms. Plus you can do some wine tasting at the family owned Annapolis Winery and Tasting. They were one of the first wineries here and have supported our community in many ways. annapoliswinery.com/
In May the Gualala Art Center will host four different exhibits and lots of music events too! On Friday May 10th at 7:30 PM the “The Sea Ranch Songs”, DVD Screening and Discussion with Kronos Quartet (David Harrington, John Sherba, Hank Dutt, and Sunny Yang) in attendance and local residents Donlyn Lyndon & Alice Wingwall, moderators. The Sea Ranch community commissioned this work of The Sea Ranch’s past, present and future by videographer Andrew Lyndon that accompanies a lush contemporary soundtrack written by composer Aleksandra Vrebalov and performed by the two-time Grammy-winning Kronos Quartet. Kronos has become one of the world’s most celebrated and influential ensembles.
Meanwhile roads that were damaged from storms over two years still aren’t repaired. How long will it take to repair the recent damage? Anyone try to upgrade their septic tanks through Permit Sonoma/PRMD lately? How was that experience?
We have been told that since our area generates a substantial amount of TOT funds, that we would get to keep more of the funds we generate and have more local control over where those funds are spent. The funds are supposed to be used to promote tourism and to mitigate any impacts from tourism. Now it appears that instead of getting more funds and control, we will actually get less, and a lot of the funds will instead go to the fire districts.
One event that is very close to my heart is the “Yakutia Culture Evening” sharing stories, songs, and food of Sakha Culture on May 16th
at 7:00. What or who is the Sakha culture you ask? The Sahka are the tribal members from Siberia that were once here on our coast under the Russian flag and the Russian American Company at Colony Ross.
Wait—there’s more. At the Point Arena Lighthouse on Saturday, May 18 at 4 p.m. Dr. Nancy R. Morin will present “Plants of the Mendonoma coast– what have we learned, and what mysteries remain?” as part of the Lighthouse Lecture Series. The Mendonoma coast is home to a surprising number of rare plants and plant communities and yet little has been know about the flora of the region. To help develop a management plan for the newly added Point Arena-Stornetta Unit to the California Coastal National Monument, teams
If you have ever walked out to Gualala River Regional Park and the Gualala Art Center you will have noticed the Sergeh Tuhulgete poles. Now is the time to ask questions of Vera, a Sahka tribal member living in Washington DC, and enjoy an evening of one of Sahka’s most famous singers, Siberian ethno-singer Saina (Savvinova Ekatherina Arkadyavna) an indigenous person from the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russian Federation.
of botanists from the California Native Plant Society and the UC Botanical Garden in Berkeley were contracted to undertake vegetation and plant surveys. This talk will explore the results of their work. Stick around after the lecture for the Flower Full Moon tour. pointarenalighthouse.com/visit/calendar-2/
44 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 5/19
Promise yourself to get out and about to enjoy our coast.