Page 35 - Sonoma County Gazette July 2020

Recalculating Roseland!
Thanks again to Chuck Lucas for contributing the first part of this column. Lucas is Senior writer and Historian, Penngrove Proud Magazine.
How about 2 more Basketball courts, 2 more Soccer fields, and 2 Volleyball courts at Southwest Community Park? Please keep these questions in mind as you read this short review of some 30 years of Roseland history.
On June 5, 2020, 18 year old, Caitlin Booth was returning to her car after a day at the Russian River in Guerneville. As she approached the Hacienda Bridge a large Dodge truck hit her in the head with a mirror. She was rushed to the Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital where they determined she had multiple skull fractures and a broken clavicle. She was in the ICU until June 13th when she returned home.
It has been at least 35 years that local land developers have been doing the 35,000-foot aerial view of how they want to develop lands to the southwest
of Santa Rosa. In 1984 the County Board of Supervisors, in conjunction with the state Department of Toxic Substances, declared a McMinn Ave. State Superfund Site at the intersection of McMinn Ave. and Sebastopol Rd. in the heart of north Roseland. Roseland School was in the zone which reached both east and west along Sebastopol Rd. Roseland School District consisted of only two schools with Sheppard School on West Ave. and Roseland School having the only playing fields in the entire 1.2 square mile Roseland community.
Caitlin is a member of the Penngrove Social Firemen. (Her mother Robin was interviewed as Wonder Woman of Penngrove, in Penngrove Proud’s Spring edition 2020.) The community joined together to provide food for the family as they aid her recovery. The meal effort was led by Lyndi Brown...local businesses, namely the Penngrove Market, JavAmoré Cafe and the Twin Oaks Roadhouse joined the effort as well. Her recovery will take months...
There was also a half-court basketball court at the small sliver of parkland on South Davis St. at Earle St. in east Roseland. This was the ONLY Park in all of Roseland for over 50 years. It came about because of the building of Highway 101, not because of Santa Rosa’s benevolence towards Roseland.
Penngroovian teen, racquetball athlete Heather Mahoney, won World Cup Player of the Year, her second straight year to win the award. She won Junior Racquetball World Champion in Girls 14 singles, Costa Rica 2019. She has a total of 4 World Titles. At National Championships 2019: 14 and under singles title; 16 and under singles and doubles silver or 2nd place. She will be a Junior at CGHS where she has played Varsity Soccer since her Freshman year. Heather also plays Club Soccer with North Coast Futbol League...
PHOTO: KS Photography
Anne Menendez, an amateur bee keeper, was alarmed when one of
her hives swarmed to an apple tree. She called Sonoma County Beekeepers, (sonomabees.com) that has a “Report a Swarm” feature and within an hour a volunteer was at her door. After relocating the swarm to a temporary box, they let the bees settle down and at dusk moved them to their new home. We have a lot of amateur beekeepers in Penngrove and John and Darlene McGinnis’ (goahwayranch.com) are there to help newcomers with John’s sale of hives and advice...The McGinnis honey is available at the Penngrove Market...
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact our daily lives it is sadly announced that the Penngrove Celebration has been canceled, including the Rancho Adobe Fire Districts’ July 4th Pancake Breakfast and the July 5th 44th annual “Biggest Little Parade” and BBQ...Good news is that on July 5th the Penngrove Social Firemen will hold a drive through chicken feed curbside pick-up from Penngrove Park, although pre-sale tickets were cut off June 26. However, Penngrove 4-H will be selling desserts without any pre-sale, so bring your dollar bills for sweet support of the kids.
Back then there were hundreds, if not thousands, of children in Roseland in need of places to play. But the area to the west of Corby Ave. was not in the city yet, though South Davis Street was in the city, so the city did not look to provide for the needy residents of Roseland.
Talks between the city, county and developers about annexations and land uses were occurring back then, so the expansion of Santa Rosa into Roseland started with the new “Auto Row” on Corby Ave. in southeast Roseland in the 1960s and 70s. The city took the sales tax revenue from those auto sales and used the money inside the city limits while ignoring the needs of Roseland.
Olive Park was in city to the north east part of Roseland, but there were no playing fields there other than the grass. This was later changed when a small play area for children with sand was added. A Gazebo structure and a new Restroom were also installed.
As more people moved into Roseland the city gradually annexed about half of the area while also encircling the community. This was done in order to develop houses to the south and west of Roseland beginning in 1995.
Elsie Allen High School was built first opening to students in 1994. Santa Rosa did not take the entire Roseland community into the city at the time, citing costs. But the city and Roseland School District encouraged more people to move into the area as it helped to bolster the pursuit of funding from various governmental sources to be used by the city and the school district. Never has the city or the school district put a priority on the needs of our children to have places to play.
When Roseland residents participated in the planning for the Roseland Village redevelopment a majority advocated for an acre of GREEN Space
to be put in near the intersection of West Ave. Instead the city and county bureaucrats are pushing for concrete. Now an out-of-town entity will be putting in some “temporary” spots to drink and eat with no consideration
for kids. Decisions being made before any “public hearing” is occurring because the city has a Zoning Administrator. Local residents who disagree with this administrator’s decisions are out-of-luck because local concerns cannot override the administrator’s decisions. Appeals are futile and Santa Rosa points out they have preempted any possibility for authentic community engagement because of the “Resiliency Ordinance” passed by the city council after the Tubbs fire. Now almost three years on the city also has the Kinkaide fire crisis and the homeless crisis declarations in place. Essentially, these now allow the Zoning Adminstrator to rule.
Lyndi’s Bits & Bobs: Service dog researcher and educator Dr. Bonnie Bergin will speak at the Petaluma Woman’s Club Speaker Series on Tuesday, July 28 at 5:30 pm. Bergin is the founder of Canine Companions for Independence and the Bergin University for Canine Studies. Tickets are $15, online at Eventbrite, search for Petaluma-womans-club-speaker-series. Attendance will be capped at 40, and includes refreshments and seating according to County guidelines.
Can interest the city in green spaces and parks?
The Hello Penngrove shop has a new free lending library of adult books on race issues. Anthony Tusler combed his shelves to begin the collection.
Otherwise our kids are screwed. SAD!
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