Page 30 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2020

“How lucky I am (we are) to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” ~ Winnie the Pooh
And with that we say our goodbyes – adios, au revoir, arrivederci, dag, farvel, do svidaniya, auf wiedersehen, totsiens, zàiyiàn, sayõnara. . .cuidate (take care of yourself), and, finally, shalom (peace).
The time has come for the two of us (Carol and Reece) to say goodbye to “Cloverdale Comments” a wonderful adventure that has lasted a decade or so. A couple of years into the writing, Carol wisely asked her good friend, Reece, to become the column’s editor. Thus, the Carol & Reece team was born.
With love and gratitude, Carol and Reece now turn the “Cloverdale Comments” column of Sonoma County Gazette over to our great friends and colleagues, Melanie Hall and Brooke Greene.
“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened.”
~ Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel)
My name is Melanie Hall. I am honored and pleased to be collaborating
As time passed, it became clear that we were both writing the column, so Carol said, “Why not recognize that fact?” We got our picture taken together and launched our new by-line as an “official” team with Reece increasingly authoring and Carol editing.
with Brooke Greene to write the Cloverdale column for the Gazette. Thank you, Reece and Carol, for establishing such a solid column and
What joy and what fun this column has given us – especially when
sharing the spirit of Cloverdale with the rest of Sonoma County. I moved with my family to Cloverdale in 1994. Since then, my children have grown, and my husband of 40 years and I have set down big roots in this town that we love.
it’s been a challenge! Sometimes we are on different ends of an idea and our successful coming together has been part of that fun. Usually, we have been in the same place idea-wise and the wrangling of our different approaches into coherent and (Hopefully!) worthwhile reading has
I have a ten-minute commute to my job as Program Manager for the Cloverdale Senior Multipurpose Center, where our many members share the
addresses relevant local issues, discussing them from all aspects.
The community columns include all the areas in our County from the
smallest to the largest, allowing the writers to focus on pertinent issues in their communities without interfering, yet incorporating, the overall discussions. Thank you, Vesta and all of you out there!
always been part of the joy!.
The two of us would venture out into the
love of this community.
community meeting new people; talking with
them; finding out what was happening; sometimes what they contributed to the community and other times what they gained from our community. Reece would write a serious column and Carol would then make it light and funny. Using our strengths and, hopefully, avoiding the weaknesses, we managed
to deliver another piece of Cloverdale each month, sharing the smiles so many have experienced in our town. It was loads of fun!
and I’m happy to join my good friend Melanie Hall and follow in Reece and Carol’s footsteps. My husband, Richard, and I moved to Cloverdale from the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1984, hoping for a
small town environment in which to raise our two children. Who knew that we were also choosing what would become our perfect retirement community?
We are more grateful than we can express to Vesta Copestakes for providing the opportunity
to be with you each month and for the direction she has established and maintained over the years. Incredible job! She created a rare resource that
Over the years, I worked for the school district, private businesses, and until 2013, I was the Assistant Director of the Cloverdale Senior Center, where I still volunteer. I’ve participated in several non-profits as
a board member, and I have a pretty good idea of what Cloverdale has to offer. As the county stay-at- home orders begin to ease, there will be lots things happening here, and Melanie and I can’t wait to share them with you!
Hello, Gazette readers! I’m Brooke Greene,
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