Page 34 - Sonoma County Gazette September 2019

May your harvest be Bountiful!
Flowery School Alumni Remembered!
The Sonoma Garden Park is one of Sonoma’s hidden treasures. It’s a working organic farm open to visitors, with a Saturday morning Harvest Market, workshops on sustainable farming, the Harry Potter summer camp and native plant nursery. Several garden plots are available for a nominal rental fee. Shambhala Buddhist Center has one. Vintage House is developing a garden, too, for its members.
A visitor to Flowery School (Hwy 12 west of Mercado
El Brinquito) will find walls of art, some donated, others indigeneous. Ceramic tiles highlight the walls outside classrooms. The tiles have been created by students in their final year at Flowery for over thirty (30) years! It is their legacy to classmates for years to come. Each tile carries a message to students in following years.
The park exists because it was bequeathed to the city by its owner, Pauline Bond, a teacher, on the proviso that it be maintained as a farm. The Sonoma Ecology Center manages it. Two part-time farmers run it. Steve Carara has been farm manager for five years; a retired Silicon Valley program analyst and manager, he came to the farm as a volunteer, and learned to farm. For the past two years Jonathan Tanis has been his talented assistant.
This practice began in 1987 when Flowery had its own kiln. The tiles are now kiln fired at Sonoma Valley High School. Any funds needed, are raised by the students themselves.
Just about everything else is done by volunteers. And there’s the rub. This summer there haven’t been many volunteers. That lack makes it hard to harvest the vegetables for the weekly market. Even then, the piles of produce gleaming with freshness and bright with color usually exceed what is sold.
After graduation the tiles are mounted on the walls of the
school by Jose Sandoval. Mr. Sandoval said he has been doing
this for 25 years. He meticulously mounts and plasters each tile
to the wall. Ms. Karina Rubio in the Flowery office proudly
notes that students return years later to see their tiles. Many
bring their children to see the artwork of fellow Flowery
friends from years gone by. The art and tile tradition makes
It is easy to see why parent Dan Levitis expressed admiration
and plaudits for Flowery at a recent community meeting. On
another note Ms. Rubio indicated that Principal Esmeralda
Sanchez Mosely has obtained new swings for the school yard. Flowery has been the only elementary school in the district without swings until now.
Ready to assist? There’s a place for you!
Rich Lee, Chair of the Springs Community Alliance, told an ad hoc meeting of Springs residents in late July there was a need for new leadership. Rich has been the Chair of SCA for many years. He thinks a “local” should step up and take over. In addition, Ellen Conlon, who for years has been an SCA mainstay has been appointed to the Springs MAC (Municipal Advisory Committee). Ellen is not leaving SCA, but has new responsibilities. Interested in paticipating? Contact Rich Lee (richlee@sonic.net).
I do a little volunteering at the farm just to keep in touch with the soil and the plants now that I am living in an apartment in “the city” where the traffic roars by 20 hours a day out of 24. The land is what drew me back to Sonoma County after some years away, and it’s what keeps me here, even as it has gone from apples to grapes, and from funky to upscale, even though I’ve gone from being a mom with kids to a mom whose flock has flown to their own lives and pursuits. But as the French say, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose—the more things change, the more they stay the same, and the land weathers it all.
Springs Community Alliance Seeks New Leadership
The Sonoma Garden Park is a wonderful resource for people young and old who want to learn more about farming, and volunteering is a great way to do that. It doesn’t cost anything, and you may even go home with a few fresh vegetables. These waning days of summer are also the peak of harvest. Visit sonomagardenpark.org if you’re interested and to sign up; or just come out to the park. The Park is located on 7th Street East, between E. Napa and Denmark Street. That’s farm country, what’s left of it, thanks in large part to our...
Urban Growth Boundary. The UGBs, are they are commonly called, were embraced by Californians in the 70s as we saw towns on the Peninsula become gobbled up by housing sprawl; but they actually originated in late 19th century England, according to Wikipedia, and the first US UGB encircled Lexington, Kentucky in 1954.
Discussion of issues filled out the evening agenda...
Sonoma’s UGB will be up for renewal in 2020, and as you’ve probably heard, a fair bit of controversy has arisen around it, due to the desperate need for housing here, and the apparent shortage of places to build it. But Teri Shore of Greenbelt Alliance can whip out a map to prove that spaces exist. She’s on vacation for the rest of the month, so I can’t interview her, though I do have an email from her that declares her commitment to the UGB.
independence to form agendas they see as essential for the Springs.
• It was noted that Springs MAC meetings need publicizing.
• Potholes: A never ending complaint and demand for action by the County. • Mari-Carmen Reyes of the Sonoma Community Health Center, reported
On July 30 she wrote: “In any case, it will be a tragedy if Sonoma Valley and Sonoma County go the way of the rest of the Bay Area in the name of ‘build, baby, build.’ It will never be the same for the people, the economy or the environment. It is time to think different.”
Ecology Center, reported on the coming campaign to eradicate French Broom along Sonoma Creek between Larson Park and Flowery School. This entails a lot of labor and will likely occur in November.
The solution may require taller buildings within the city. Not everyone likes the idea of multi-story apartment buildings in our historic town. But we’ve got to do something, Lord knows, unless we want to become a wine-country Carmel; you know, exclusive.
• Ellen Conlon opened discussion on whether SCA should change IRS titles to allow for endorsements of candidates and freedom to lobby for legislation.
The debate is not about eliminating the UGBs but reviewing them in the context of the upcoming General Plan revision. Sonoma Sun columnist Fred Allebach has been arguing that we should have that conversation. In his July 19 column, he writes, “Are the General Plan, the UGB, zoning, segregation, and affordable housing issues linked? Yes, they are...The General Plan and city land use, tied to whatever UGB, needs to explicitly address these core equity issues up front.”
• Parking in the Springs brought on lively discussion.
• A question of $2.1 million in County earmarked funds for the Springs was
Makes sense to me. Let’s see what the City Council has to say.
34 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 9/19
Active attendees engaged with the issues above: Veronica Napoles, Bill Hoban, Ron Harrison, Linda Murphy, Chris Murphy, Emory Noyes, and me.
What issues face SCA leadership? That question went around the room and a healthy discussion followed.
• There is a need to support the newly formed Springs MAC. While Sup.
Susan Gorin appointed them, the members of the new MAC need
on the need for water stations at various locations in the Springs.
• Dan Levitis, a parent at Flowery School and activist with the Sonoma
• How will Springs residents move about during Boyes Blvd. bridge reconstruction periods?
discussed. Have the funds been spent? If so, on what. People said they believed the funds were earmarked for parking, the Plaza, and roads. An answer is being sought for presentation at a future meeting.
• General comments were shared about the Springs Specific Plan, the Mattson projects and long term needs such as a bank and library.
Plan to attend the next meeting of the Springs Community Alliance! Date and Location To Be Announced.