Page 29 - Sonoma County Gazette 12-2019

Holiday Parade of Lights – December 15
GET OFF AMAZON!!!! – buy your holiday gifts locally.
Bundle up, and join us on Main Street for the 4th annual Penngrove Holiday Parade of Lights on Sunday, December 15 from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM. Penngrove Social Firemen present the spectacle of glammed up tractor- trailers, farm vehicles, and decorated farm tractors covered in lights. Some merchants will serve soup, pizza, or hot cider to keep you warm. Roads around downtown close at 5 pm. You can park at Penngrove Elementary School 4:30
– 8:00 pm. The parade stages in Penngrove Park, 11800 Main St., and rolls up Main Street toward Adobe Rd. There is no fee to enter, just go to JavAmore Café, contact Kim at: 794-1516 or email mrsjjava@hotmail.com.
A small family business is Buzz Off Honey at Goah Way Ranch. I met beekeeper John and Darlene McGinnis at the Penngrove Market Craft
Fair last month. They displayed delicious local honey and candles from the twelve hives he keeps on Lynch Rd., on the Gambonini Ranch. All comb is made by the bees. The honey and candles make lovely holiday gifts. John took up beekeeping five years ago and took classes at SRJC from Serge Labesque. “Serge gave us plans to make hive components, so I make and sell those as well,” said John. And if you spot a swarm in Spring, ‘bee’ prepared by noting his phone number now for quick assistance at no charge. A swarm has just
“Buy Local!” We all see this phrase daily, if not more, but it probably means more right now than at any other time since its popularization. Once the fires were put out, the power was back on and the evacuees were allowed back to their homes, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. It may have taken a few days to restock the fridge and reschedule the appointments and engagements we may have missed, but life for most of us went back to normal.
Buzz Off Honey at Goah Way Ranch
However, that was just on a day-to-day level – the big picture often changes slowly and our local producers need our support now more than ever, or else the “normal” we have gotten used to and which brought a lot of us to Sonoma County in the first place, may cease to exist. The news makes a huge deal about the fires, which is okay because we want locals to take the danger seriously, but that sword has a double edge. It makes the rest of the state and the country think that all of Sonoma County has burned down and that there is no reason to visit us for their day-trips, conferences, weddings, and vacations. Of course, we all know that other than the fright of the actual fire, once it was put out, it actually physically affected only a tiny portion of our county. Nevertheless, the tourists are not returning as they once did, which is wreaking havoc on our economy, which if not stemmed, will have lasting effects on all of us.
Harmony Farm Supply and Nursery
a 25% chance of survival if not assisted with their relocation. They stay at their temporary
I have spoken to countless winery owners, restaurant owners, farmers and cheese producers, just to name a few, who are all still feeling the effects of the 2017 fires. That is how long-lasting the effects of fires and power outages can be. Many tell me that they were just getting their feet back under them, two years after the fires, when the Kincade fire hit. That is how long-lasting the effects can be and why we all need to do our part to step up and help out, otherwise, Sonoma County is not going end up being the place we know and love.
swam location for a very short period of time. You’ll see John’s white pick-up
around town, emblazoned with his bee logo and his Buzz Off Honey/
We’re glad to welcome Harmony Farm to the neighborhood. Here’s another small shop to enjoy on your gift hunt for the holidays. Any gardener would dance with delight for new gloves, seeds, tools and more. Manager Cody Rich says they have live Xmas trees and bare root berries. By the New Year, roses and fruit trees will be in. Founded in 1980, they are the second oldest purveyor of organic plants in the country. The building at 5400 Old Redwood Highway also houses Soap Cauldron, FEED Sonoma, a candle maker, ceramics and artists. Look for it at the ‘Penngrove Narrows’ where Old Red goes from two to one lane. Did I just coin that name?
Thanks to Supervisor David Rabbitt and district Director Andrea Krout for providing this update: The pedestrian path is completed and the new crossing arms have been installed. Pavement loops are being installed and by December we should be substantially completed with the project. The bags covering the flashing beacons, the orange barriers, the delineators, and the ‘qwick kurb’ (yellow center barriers) will all be removed once the quad gate system is fully operational. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we went through the construction of the quad gates, pedestrian path and removal of the medians. This project will ensure that Penngrove Main Street retains it charm and stays safe.
If you are looking for a local Santa to visit your holiday party or retail event, there is none better than Gerald Leuschen of Buddy’s Farm (326-4800), who also harvests and sells the best honey and eggs around. Yes, that beard
is real and yes, he really is that jolly in real life. You can book him through Sonoma County Santa on Facebook, but do it soon as his schedule fills up fast.
Penngrove Quad Gate and Main Street Intersection
simply go to the last pages of this issue of the Gazette for the most thorough Holiday Calendar all in one place.
Goah Way Ranch name. Call him for gift honey, candles, and beehive equipment at 707 478-9787 or visit
Sonoma Strong isn’t just about sticking together during the fires and evacuations. It isn’t just about helping people rebuild their lives. It is also about supporting every aspect of our community. When it comes to holiday gifts, now more than ever, we need to think smart and Buy Local! I know that online retailers make things easy but every dollar spent online is a dollar that does not get a chance to circulate around our community. Every dollar spent locally goes on to be spent again and again as store owners and employees invest it back in Sonoma County.
goahwayranch.com.
Make a Holiday Table
Centerpiece – Dec. 15 & 22
Artful Arrangements offers two centerpiece classes, December 15 and 22,
John & Darlene McGinnis from 10am to Noon. You’ll use a crafty water of Buzz Off Honey frog to hold freshly-cut foliage. The low
There are tons of holiday fairs where you can purchase locally made products for your holiday gift list. And as a fan of food, nothing makes me happier than receiving a gift of locally harvested anything, from honey to jam to beef jerky to sweets. Better yet, I love giving and receiving restaurant or wine tasting gift certificates. Gifts of an experience are much more genuine and the memory more long-lasting than simply giving someone a trinket made in a foreign land.
centerpiece stays fresh for weeks. All tools, materials and refreshments are included. $10, or two for $15 (two friends, or a
parent or grandparent and an older child). 205 Orchard Lane, Penngrove. Call Diane to register, because this class fills, 707-664-8656 or artfularrangements. org
Please, if you love Sonoma County and want to see it continue to be the gem that it is, we all need to band together and spend our holiday dollars supporting local producers. If we don’t, I guarantee that come next holiday, a lot of them will no longer be a part of our community.
With limited space, due in large part to my Buy Local plea...
And not be left out, the Petaluma Museum presents Petaluma Readers Theatre’s presentation of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and Dylan Thomas’s “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” offered over several days. And while up on the Museum’s website, you can purchase tickets for their New Year’s Eve Gala Concert, which has quickly become a local favorite, and can be followed by the Viennese Ball, also put on by Elizabeth Walter and Sky Hill Cultural Alliance at Hermann Sons Hall on Western, with authentic Viennese food and a live Strauss band for the waltzing.
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