Page 27 - Sonoma County Gazette June 2017

“t’s almost a spiritual experience...dancing, riding a horse, writing— I disappear fully into being alive” Patrice Garrett
Word Wrangling Woman calls Cotati home
Heritage Salvage celebrates World Environmental Day with a free-to-all “Big Mama Day” bash on Sunday, June 4, from noon – 6 PM, at its 1473 Petaluma Blvd S. location. Along with being able to meet the infamous Michael “Bug” Deakin, owner of HS, other environmental celebs will include Julia “Butterfly” Hill, Trathen Heckman, and Brock Dolman. Julia is environmental activist and author, best known for her living atop a 1,500 year old Redwood tree she named “Luna” in Humboldt County for 738 days in order to protest its impending harvest. Trathen “is the founder of Daily Acts, publisher of Ripples Journal, former director of Green Sangha, and Transition US board member.” Brock co- directs the WATER Institute, Permaculture Design Program and Wildlands Program and for over a decade has served as an appointed commissioner on
the Sonoma County Fish & Wildlife Commission.
There will be live art by Ryan Petersen, music by the Highway Poets and Dorian Mode, and fun and games for the whole family, including Ag games, which I assume means games like those that we saw in Petaluma’s 2016 Farmer Olympics. Food trucks will be on scene, there will be live raffles throughout the day, and regular and adult libations will be available from 101 North, Hopmonk Tavern, Kokomo Winery, Revive, and many others. The event benefits Daily Acts (dailyacts.org), a non-profit focused on sustainability, with the “core belief that every choice you make matters,” and is sponsored by Eventor, The Farmers Guild, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and Green Mary Zero Waste Events.
Day on the River is a great way to enjoy Petaluma’s biggest park, whether you have your own human-powered watercraft, or want to try out the huge variety that will be available to try at the event. Held Sunday, June 4, 2017 from 10am - 2pm, at the downtown turning basin, proceeds benefit the Petaluma Small Craft Center’s Floathouse, which will give boaters easy access to the river, right at the downtown turning basin. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for kids 12 and under.
The North Bay Rowing Club (NBRC) offers an introductory camp for youth four times over the summer, with the first “Juniors Summer Camp (Session 1)” currently set for the week of Monday, June 12 – Friday, June 16,
2017. No experience is necessary for you budding youth athlete to learn rowing fundamentals from equipment to technique to fitness training, as well as experiencing “a positive, team-building environment with expert coaching.” Best of all, your kids will get to experience that the Petaluma River is more than just a waterway that runs through our city. Visit northbayrowing.org to sign up soon - registration closes June 11.
“At ve I wanted to be Roy Rogers, but then I heard of Dale Evans.” Patrice Garrett paused then added, “So I became a dancer and studied ballet in New York City with the Ballet Russe. Mother wanted me to learn modern dance so I took classes with Martha Graham and Jose Limón. Modern was not lyrical enough for me. With ballet I could dance between the notes.” As a young woman in California, Garrett married, had children and raised them. She continued dancing ballet in San Francisco and in Marin County. Garrett taught and performed until turning forty.
Up to then Garrett “rode string horses
all over the USA.” Loving the Old West she
also loved trail riding. After searching for
a year and a half, she found her rst horse,
Sundance, through a Sonoma County horse trainer. “He’s my meditation,” said Garrett, speaking of her 22-year-old Dun gelding. Most afternoons, Garrett drives forty- ve minutes to be with her horse. Garrett rides every other day, alternating with groundwork in a round pen or an arena.
Garrett and I met at Redwood Writers Club, which she joined ve years ago. Years ago I had admired Garrett from afar. While my daughter took Western riding lessons from Amy Joe Tolson at Double Bar M Ranch, I watched Garrett too. I saw a patient intelligent and strong woman riding a Dun horse in Western Pleasure Horse style. I wondered if her gelding had been trained for trail riding. Note: No horse is born knowing how to convey a rider calmly by wild animals, face new trail problems or ignore tender green branches swishing by his nostrils. Observing Garrett as she sat, cowgirl style, in her saddle, made me wonder if I would return to my rst love, horses. When my grandfather lived and worked as a cowboy, he rode all day, not an easy feat.
After living in New York City, San Francisco and Marin, Garrett chose Cotati after boarding her horse in Sonoma County. She loves living in Cotati because it’s rural yet not remote. Garrett enjoys having the university, cultural diversity, literate people and access to college events. Plus her Mac guy lives down the street. The owner at Mac Advantage xes her computer and, sometimes, even makes house calls.
NBRC also offers three summer Adult-Learn-to-Row classes. The June class is already full so act quick in order to secure your spot in either their July (Sat-Sun, July 22-23, 2017) or August (Sat-Sun, Aug 5-6, 2017) classes before they too fill up. If you’ve ever wondered about all those folks rowing on the everyday, this
Garrett’s soon to be published rst novel is a western, set in the1850s in Arizona and Northern California. After being a journalist for the San Francisco Examiner, while still working as a freelance business writer, Garrett began writing ction in 2012. She has two novels in progress, not westerns. On her Web site Word Wrangling Woman Stories, the Novel, News and Reviews from Writer Patrice Garrett. Please visit and follow Word Wrangling Woman Facebook. Find her business writing bio and contact information under Communications Ink West on her Web site.
is a great way to give it a try for yourself, under the expert tutelage of seasoned rowers. And if you find that it’s something you think you’d enjoy, graduates of this 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 northbayrowing.org
I promise to bring you more on Garrett’s book launch soon. Who would not want to stay in touch with the woman who said, “Since childhood I have wished I had a thousand lives to travel and live all over the world.”
Petaluma Small Craft Center hosts “Small Craft Summer Camp Session I” from Monday, June 19 through Saturday, June 23, 2017. Campers will get to experience all the various modes of enjoyment on the river, including rowing, Hawaiian outrigger canoeing, kayaking and stand up paddle boarding. Visit www.northbayrowing.org to sign your kids up.
The HOTS is a band night fundraiser at the Petaluma Art Center on Saturday, June 3, from 6:30 – 10:30pm. The HOTS are well known for taking the songs that you know and love, and updating and reinvigorating them. The evening will also include dinner, raffle prizes, and plenty of music to dance by. Visit petalumaartcenter.org for more info.
The Petaluma Art & Garden Festival (Sun, July 10, 2017) is looking for volunteers to help with this great food, arts, and crafts event. Volunteers receive a discounted tasting package, an event T-shirt, and a Thank You Dinner/Party. Lunch is provided to those working more than one shift. Visit petalumadowntown.com for more info.
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Celebrate Fathers Day at the Cotati Jazz Fest, Sat, June 17th
The Cotati Jazz Fest is always a delight, always free plus the bands are staged outdoors. In La Plaza Park, taste local crafter beers, wine and food o erings from noon until 6 p.m. The 37th annual Cotati Jazz Festival is supported in part by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, Exchange Bank, KJZY, Lagunitas Brewing Company and Blairworks.
Deborah Taylor-French is an information omnivore, feeding on ction, business news, and poetry. She is a community columnist, read her Cotati Heart & Soul, in the Sonoma County Gazette. Deborah blogs at Dog Leader Mysteries (.com). She has also been published in the North Bay Business Journal, Deborah has written promotional pieces for S.C. Regional Parks, funding arts in education and multicultural programs. She is currently polishing a mystery series brimming with animal rescue and arson chasing adventure.
Check the calendar and Cotati Recreation for upcoming kids camps, adult classes, etc. Please visit my blog, leave me a comment or drop me a note about this column at dtfwriter@gmail.com because I love to hear from you.