Page 44 - SCG December 2015.indd

Ilove Christmas and the holiday bustle that surround this time of year. I love wishing people happy holidays and do so by saying Merry Christmas. I generally don’t say Happy Hanukah or the other holiday greetings as I am not as familiar with other religions. I am Jesus centered and therefore this
In this season of giving thanks, I am reminded that we have so much to be thankful for. In the tiny seaside town of Jenner, we have a citizen (he politely declined to be named in an interview) who you may find picking up any litter that finds its way to the roadside. I met him one evening, just as the
is what I say however I appreciate and welcome all greetings from everyone. Happy Holidays and Good Cheer!
sun was setting and the town was quiet and seemingly deserted. He had just retrieved a couple ‘stray’ kayaks from out in the river and returned them to the launch ramp area. “Kids being a little mischievous”, he said with a smile on his face. He was just performing yet another thankless task; a humble neighbor, giving to his community with nothing asked in return.
Once again I plan to purchase gifts from local craft fairs, and our local businesses. I generally find gifts that I am sure my family and friends do not own but will be seen as ‘unusual, or one of a kind, or who would have thought about this’ sort of gift.
There are many local events going on so please get out and about and share in some joy. At the Gualala Arts Center, ‘A Holiday Concert for the Coast’, will held December 12th at 4 PM with the Ernest Block Bell Ringers. The bell ringing is wonderful and I highly recommend it. On December 20th at 4:00 PM, ‘A Christmas Treasury of Song’, and December 24th, ‘The Nine Lessons and Carols’, will be performed by the LocalEyes Series. All events are family friendly, some are free, and we welcome our visiting guests to the coast
to join in. Please check the website for complete information. gualalaarts. org/Events/index.html. The Redwood Chamber of Commerce is at redwoodcoastchamber.com/events and lists many events from which aren’t necessarily holiday centered but are great local events and programs from music to scrabble. A visit to the Point Arena lighthouse might offer a view
of the Gray Whale migration. pointarenalighthouse.com/calendar.html. I would like to encourage you, your friends, and family to start thinking about the ‘First Day Hikes’ in all our local parks. Fort Ross State Historic Park will host a hike and lecture to the Fort Ross Cemetery and the bluff top trail to
the Reef Camp area. They will once again start with an opening blessing from Kashaya Elder Lorin Smith. Most county, state, and national parks participate in this with millions of people getting out to enjoy the beauty that surrounds us on the First Day of the New Year.
I want to acknowledge our community friends who might find this time of year a difficult time in their lives. Our arms are around you. Reach out to your community and find the warmth of those who will comfort you. I encourage everyone to bring your talents to the craft fairs, join in some singing or take a drive around town admiring all the Christmas lights. Bing Crosby said ‘share joy with everyone you meet’. I wish you all a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas.
44 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 12/15
I would like to say, on behalf of your Community and all who visit and enjoy this special place (and who take the clean, litter-free landscape for granted), we thank you!
I am thankful for community organizations like our Surfrider Sonoma Coast Chapter. We really owe a huge debt of gratitude to these neighbors who have undertaken the daunting task of preserving the health of the true gem of our fair County (and one of our most famous tourist destinations), our Sonoma Coast Beaches. They are a driving force in keeping our beaches litter free and plastic bags and Styrofoam out of the environment. They are also on the job of monitoring the beaches and water for sources of contamination and pollution.
And the next time you sneak out to the coast to catch the ocean sunset (and if you are lucky, a ‘green flash’), you won’t have to put money in a meter thanks to the ongoing ‘anti iron ranger’ efforts of our Sonoma Coast Surfrider Chapter. And it will remain like that if they have their way! Their new calendar just went on sale; Amazing photos of Local Surf Breaks...The perfect holiday Go- Local gift! www.surfrider.org/sonomacoast
Thanks and blessings to organizations like Friends of the Gualala River (gualalariver.org), Friends of Mark West Creek (markwestwatershed.org) and Friends of Sheephouse Creek (facebook.com/FriendsOfSheephouseCreek) for keeping the health of our local watersheds in the public’s eye. Acting locally truly does have an impact globally. Saving and restoring one watershed at a time has a cumulative positive impact on our collective global environment. And gives us hope that maybe it is not too late for our endangered and threatened species that call these foggy coastal forests home.
By the time you read this, the ‘G-7’ Global Climate Summit will be in full swing – This planet’s nation leaders all convening to discuss and debate how to find a solution to the Global Climate Crisis. Locally, the citizens of Jenner are having active Community conversations on how to deal with this sea level rise, an obvious, inevitable result of the Global Climate Crisis. Our Jenner townspeople are on the frontlines of this global battle.
After centuries of mowing down (with barely a nod towards sustainable forestry practices) the magnificent Coastal Redwoods (Sequoia Sempervirens), (a special tree that only grows in the small ‘fog band’ that extends from Southern Oregon to the Central CA Coast), we have only very recently (last
20 years) began to understand these Big Trees and their important role in the hydrology of the streams and rivers of the foggy water sheds they support. Studies now show conclusively that in areas with large Redwood trees, the hydrologic input (ground water/stream water) attributed to fog was double that of an area with the trees cut down due to the amazing natural fog processing abilities of the Big Trees.
Linda Ferro Benefit
A Benefit Celebration -
DANCE PARTY & silent auction Saturday December 12th, 1 - 7pm
Twin Oaks Tavern, 5745 Old Redwood HWY, Penngrove $15 suggested DONATION
Rasta Dwight’s BBQ additional charge. Music: Burrows & Dilbeck of Frobeck, Bohemian Highway, Levi Lloyd, Group Therapy (a.k.a. The Linda Ferro Band), Sonoma Songbirds Choir, the Pulsators and many special guest artists For performance schedule, see zonelovecelebrations on Facebook. We’ll be video taping personal messages for Linda. Benefit to raise funds
to help rehab from a stroke. INFO: Frank Hayhurst frank@zonemusic.com 707-338-0199
Currently there are logging plans being proposed for the last remaining century old trees in the Gualala River floodplain. In The Floodplain! Even though the Coho and Steelhead are on the brink of extinction and this is prime Coho/Steelhead habitat; Even though cutting these older Big Trees will have
a negative impact on the water table in an already “impaired” water course; Even though the logging plans call for 25,000 gallons of river water be drawn every day for dust control on the logging roads (keep in mind that the town
of Gualala is suffering through a moratorium on issuing water meters and the Gualala Water Company is in State violation every time it draws water from its river-side wells).
For our public agencies to approve of the harvest of these old trees in their very sensitive habitat at this point in history where we are at the tipping point fighting for our very survival defies logic. The public comment period has been extended for the Apple and Dogwood timber harvest plans. Please tell our leaders that now is not the time for further degradation of our precious natural resources in the name of corporate profits. We must act before it is too late.