Page 24 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2017

Have fun at our Farmers Market The Rohnert Park Farmers Market is an outstanding community event held every Friday night from 5pm to 8pm next to the Library on Rohnert Park Expressway. Come join us for a night of live music, delicious food, libations and farm fresh produce! The market runs every Friday from now until August 25th. Bring your appetite, arm chair and dance moves to this fun, family oriented night.
Come swim with us! The city of Rohnert Park is pleased to announce they will be opening Magnolia Pool on Sundays from 2:15pm to 8pm. The
City of Rohnert Park Aquatics program operates three pools. Honeybee Pool operates year round; Magnolia and Benicia Pools operate seasonally from June through August. Each pool offers a variety of programming including swim lessons, lap swim, public swim and pool rentals. Look online at rpcity.com to find more detailed information.
The Petaluma Art & Garden Festival returns for its 16th year, on Sun, July 9, from 11am – 5pm, and as always, it’s free! If you haven’t been to one
of Petaluma’s downtown closed-street festivals, this is one of the best. The HOTS, Soul Section, and J Kevin Durkin will play on the two main stages, while visitors browse through wares from local crafters, artisans, gardeners, & a sidewalk chalk art competition. (petalumadowntown.com to register.)
Relax with outstanding music On Saturday, July 29th, SOMO Concerts invites you to a day long pop-up festival filled with high energy positive reggae, roots and fusion for lovers of legends and locals with reggae icon Maxi Priest, reggae ambassadors Third World, high energy North
An extensive list of Petaluma food purveyors will be on hand, including
but not limited to, Quinua Cocina Peruana, Preferred Sonoma Caterers,
Brixx, Rocky & Rosie Chicken, Fit For a King Caterers, Plaza Tequila, BBQBros, Dickey’s, and Trader Joe’s, with dessert by Wine by the Slice and Cold Stone Creamery. Adult beverages are available from Barber Cellars, Heidrun Meadery, 101 North Brewing, Lagunitas, Dempsey’s, Adobe Road Winery, Gowan Heirloom Ciders, and the Petaluma Grocery Outlet’s wine department. Sonoma Portworks will also be on hand, and if they are sampling their Norton Port, I highly recommend giving it a try. As an avid port drinker, I have tasted all kinds, but this one, made from America’s recently rediscovered historic Norton grape, is one of the most unique I’ve ever had. Unlike it’s sweet cousins, this one has a tantalizing tartness to it.
Bay favorites Sol Horizon, Chico’s reggae fusion rockers Mystic Roots, San Francisco’s island soul reggae band Native Elements and hip-hop reggae artist The Mighty Mystic and The Hard Roots Movement. Doors open at 3pm with a 3:30pm show start. Tickets are $45.
Following the Art & Garden Festival, head out Western Ave to Hermann Sons Hall for Purple Fiesta, which is this year’s theme for the Elim Lites Relay for Life annual fundraiser. The Elim Relay for Life teams include the Elim Lites, Elim Lites Too, and Elim Youth, who combined to raise over $40,000 in 2016 for the American Cancer Society. Help them break that record in 2017 by attending Purple Fiesta at Hermann Sons Hall on Sun, July 9, from 4-7pm. I Emceed
last year’s event, so I can attest to the fact that the silent auction items, Boozer Schooner raffle (winner receives a starter cellars worth of wine), great food (taco bar, cerveza and vino, and Que Rico desserts), live music, and purple costume contest all make for a great time, and are in support of a wonderful cause. For tickets call 707.762.4081 ($20 in advance/$25 at the door.).
On Tuesday, July 11th, California Roots and SOMO Concerts will bring a night of reggae, hip-hop, punk and good vibes with renowned crowd pleasers Dirty Heads, Grammy-nominated reggae band SOJA, Hawaiian Roots Reggae stalwarts The Green and Washington D.C.’s Indie-go-go trio RDGLDGRN. Doors open at 6pm with a 6:30pm show start. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased athttps://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1441722
Peddle through Rohnert Park The city of Rohnert Park is sending a letter of support to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission be involved in a Sonoma County bike share program. There will be 15 bikes in 3 strategic areas in RP; RP Expressway at the SMART station, Sonoma State University and Sonoma Mountain Village.
Rivertown Revival is an unforgettable eco-friendly event, decorated
with re-used, re-cycled and re-purposed materials. Hosted by Friends of the Petaluma River at Steamer Landing Park and the David Yearsley River Heritage Center on Sat, July 22, Rivertown Revival is an eclectic festival celebrating Petaluma and it’s River. Enjoy great music, art boat races, delicious local food, beer, creative vendors, a large interactive area for kids, and costumes galore, so come dressed as yourself or any odd, beautiful, ugly or avant-garde character you want. All proceeds benefit Friends of the Petaluma River and its mission
to conserve and celebrate The Greatest Slough on Earth! Tickets are $15 ($5 for kids) at rivertownrevival.com.
Portraits of Petaluma Pioneers will run through Sept 25 at the Petaluma Historic Library and Museum. Curated by Petaluma maven Paula Freund, this exhibit is a must-see. From the past, into the present, the Petaluma Arts Center is running their Face of Petaluma exhibit through Aug 5, in conjunction with the Petaluma Museum. This project is a collection of recently photographed Petalumans, many of which you are sure to know, taken by a plethora of Petaluma photographers.
The North Bay Rowing Club held the first of its three summer Adult- Learn-to-Row classes in June and the July class is already sold out, but there are still seats available for the August class. Held on Sat, Aug 5 and Sun, Aug 6, from 9am – 12:30pm, this is a great way learn about rowing, while enjoying a great weekend floating along Petaluma’s biggest park. If you find that rowing is your thing, graduates of this “Learn to Row” class can get further instruction in sculling through individual or group lessons, including NBRC’s “Novice Practices”, which meets 3 times a week. The cost is $150, with more info at www.northbayrowing.org.
Windrush Farm offers a true farm experience for kid campers. Children learn how to take care of chickens, goats, sheep, alpacas and dogs, by collecting eggs, learning to milk, and harvesting veggies in order to strengthen their understanding of where our food comes from. Favorite activities also include searching for tadpoles in the pond, herding the sheep, writing stories, felting with wool, and singing goofy songs. Camp sessions are Mon-Thur, from 9am
– 3pm, with a pizza party around the wood-fired outdoor oven on Thursday
to celebrate all the great work the kids have done. Visit www.windrushfarm. wordpress.com to sign up for the summer’s remaining session.
Customers get access to the bikes through a smart phone app that allows them to pay a fare for a certain amount of usage time. The bike will be unlocked, and then the customer can ride to their destination. When not at
one of the designated hubs, the bikes can be locked to regular bike racks. Similar to car share services like “Zipcar”, customers who are not at smart bike hub location but need a bike can use their smartphone to find available bikes nearby, check out the bike and travel to another destination within the system area. This bike share model has relatively low infrastructure costs, which include docks/racks, kiosk.
The staff report lays out the need for a bike share program very
nicely: Rohnert Park is a natural fit for the SMART Bike Share Program, having a well-developed bicycle off-street and on-street network. Rohnert Park’s well-developed network of off-street bike paths and on-street bike lanes provide connections to and from activity centers within the city.
More affordable housing The city of Rohnert Park has entered into a Development Agreement (DA) to provide for the orderly development of the Southeast Specific Plan. The Southeast Specific Plan is located at Bodway and Valley House Drive just east of Sonoma Mountain Village.
The DA requires the Developer to construct 28 affordable duet units (ownership units), 8 affordable town-homes (ownership units) and a 36
unit affordable apartment complex (rental units). The duet units are located throughout the development and must be completed with the market rate units in each phase. Phase 1 includes 2 duets (4 units).
Construction should start this summer/fall and the 4 units are slated to be some of the first units built. These affordable units are the result of a partnership the city and the developer worked out with the Housing Land Trust of Sonoma County. HLT is a nonprofit organization that manages the construction and operation of owner occupied affordable housing units through a ground lease model that ensures the homes remain available to affordable buyers in perpetuity.
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