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Community Briefs
History of the Blue Wing Inn
The Sonoma League for Historic Preservation presents the lecture “The People and Significance of the Blue Wing Inn” with Sonoma history buff and parks docent Karla Noyes on March 5.
Noyes, and active docent, is a board member of the Sonoma/Petaluma State Historic Parks Association, a member of the Docent Council and is the board level Blue Wing Inn liaison for both organizations. She was chairman of the 2009 Docent Training Committee for the Sonoma/Petaluma State Historic Parks.
The event will take place at 11 a.m. at The Heritage Center at Maysonnave House, 291 First St. E. Free to members or a $5 donation. RSVP to 938.0169
Grafting workshop at Garden Park
The Sonoma Ecology Center (SEC) will present a hands-on “Introduction to Grafting” workshop, facilitated by Thomas Perot, a junior at the Sonoma Valley High School and a former SEC Enviro-Leader Intern. The workshop will be held at Sonoma Garden Park, on Saturday March 6 from 10 a.m. to noon.
The class will explain how grafting works and demonstrate how to graft. Participants will also be able to take home free scion wood. Mr. Perot has been studying exotic and rare fruit growing for seven years, and is a member of the California Rare Fruit Growers Association.
Sonoma Garden Park located at 19996 Seventh Street East, between MacArthur and Denmark Streets in Sonoma. This workshop is $20 for Sonoma Ecology Center members and $25 for non-members. Proceeds from the workshop support Sonoma Garden Park programs. For more information contact Jessica Glatt at 996-0712 x108 or email jessica@sonomaecologycenter.org. Reservations are encouraged by Friday, March 5, but drop-ins are welcome.
Hot times in the Salsa Lounge
How hot will Saturday night be? Muy caliente!
Prestwood PTO’s annual benefit ball, The Salsa Lounge, is Saturday, March 6 at the Lodge at Sonoma.
The price will rise from $80 to $95. Organizers promise a hot and spicy evening of cocktails, dinner, dancing with DJ Jimmy and silent auction and live auctions. Attire will range from Cuban and flamenco to carnivale and Miami Vice. Or just come with a flower in your teeth a zesty fiesta attitude.
Find out more at pbbauction.com
Blend it yourself at Cline Cellars
Cork it, cap it, label it and take it home at a special March 6 wine tasting event to benefit the Breast Cancer Network of Strength. Blend your own 375ml. Cashmere wine and enjoy Cline’s Zinfandels and Rhone-style wines. Tickets to the wine tasting, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. are $35 in advance and $45 at the door. The wine tasting and blending session: $60 advance purchase. Prices include logo glass. Call 940.4030 or visit clinecellars.com/BCNSfundraiser
Maxwell Park Stewardship Meeting
Volunteers are invited to a park trail monitor orientation meeting on March 6, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Boys & Girls Clubs.
“Volunteer trail and park monitors can really help park staff better manage and maintain our local parks. Reports generated by these volunteers allow staff to respond more quickly and efficiently to erosion, graffiti and vandalism,” said John Ryan, parks volunteer coordinator. “With the help of our new Maxwell Farms Stewardship Group I think we can really keep the park in better condition for the public and the plant and animal communities that make it home. Plus, it’s easy to be a monitor. If you are a regular visitor to the park, for example walking your dog, you can use this time to let Parks know how the park looks. “
For more information call 343.5221.
Sonoma Plein Air dates set
Mark your calendars for a very special week in Sonoma that will benefit local students’ art education programs. Sonoma Plein Air’s fundraising event will be held the week of May 17 when artists from around the country travel to Sonoma to paint at outdoor locations throughout the Valley. The popular and festive auction and dinner with the artists will be Friday, May 21, at Cline Winery. The following day, on the Plaza, live music will fill the air at the art exhibition and sale of all the pieces that have been painted that week.
Since 2002, the Sonoma Plein Air Foundation, a nonprofit all volunteer organization, has donated over of $350,000 for local art education. For more information visit sonomapleinair.com
Native Plant Nursery Workday
Welcome the spring season by helping the Sonoma Ecology Center sow seed and plant trees on March 13 at the Native Plant Nursery at Sonoma Garden Park.
“What better way is there to welcome spring than by getting your hands dirty?” says Sonoma Ecology Center’s Restoration Specialist Cassandra Liu.
All ages and skill levels are welcome, and children must be accompanied by an adult. Volunteers will get dirty, so should dress appropriately and wear sturdy shoes, and bring gloves, a snack and refillable water bottle.
1 p.m. to 4 p.m., bring a water bottle. Space is limited. For more information, or to register, call 996.0712 ext. 104 or email Cassandra Liu.
MIX at the museum
On Saturday, March 13, the Sonoma Valley Museum of Art will begin a new series of MIX events, which since 2008 have provided a special blend of art, music and cocktails to the Bay Area’s young adults and are quite popular.
From 8 p.m. to 11 p.m., view the current exhibition, Life of Making, and “Make Your Mark” on a collaborative weaving wall. Enjoy a rare acoustic set by Sonoma’s own Whiskey Thieves and eclectic DJ sets by Michel Saga. Indulge in hors d’oeuvres and local wines, as well as signature cocktails mixed by Cap’n Lou.
At 11 p.m., the party will move to Lokal, Sonoma’s newest pub, which will offer a selection of European beers and light fare.
Current Museum members receive free admission. A discounted $25 membership purchased at the door admits one and includes two drinks, admission to the after party, and one year membership to Sonoma Valley Museum of Art with free admission to MIX events, openings, exhibitions and much more.
Viva La Noche
Two bands, plus dance lessons and a unique taste of Latin flavors prepared by Primaveranueva highlight the annual Viva La Noche fundraiser for La Luz Center. The festive event on Saturday, March 13 begins at 6 p.m. at Little Switzerland.
The high energy Carlos Herrera Band, comprised of musicians from Sonoma County, Costa Rica and Cuba plays world and Latin music. Also performing will be Sapo Guapo, a melting pot of cultural diversity which is the epitome of “Salsa.”
Tickets are $100 per person and benefit La Luz Center Continued Education Programs.
For reservations please call Brenda Serrano at 938.5131 ext. 105
Art history with Ann Wiklund
A new series of art history classes with Ann Wiklund, focusing on the icons of Twentieth Century art: “Postmodernism – Art of the 1980s to the Present,” begins March 15 at The Sonoma Valley Museum of Art.
In the 1980s, a number of artists declared a break with the modern era and identified themselves as “Postmodernists.” From that point, Wiklund explains, no single style has dominated an art world which has become more multicultural and more global. This series of three classes will follow the excitement and the dizzying array of art over the last 30 years.
Session one, on Monday, March 15, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. examines “The Retrospective Eighties: Neo-Expressionism to Graffiti Art.”
This three-part art history course is offered exclusively to Sonoma Valley Museum of Art members. Registration is $35. Seating is limited; please call 939.7862 or e-mail admin@svma.org to reserve a spot.
Savor Sonoma Valley
Tickets are now on sale for the 20th annual Savor Sonoma Valley, March 20 and 21.
“We are so excited to be teaming up with local chefs and restaurants to create a truly special weekend of delicious foods paired with the amazing variety of wines produced in our Valley,” said producer Josie Gay, executive director Heart of Sonoma Valley Association. “We invite wine lovers out to celebrate the bounty of Sonoma Valley, as 22 wineries throw open their cellar doors for this authentic wine country experience.”
The weekend showcases the 2009 vintage straight from the barrels, new releases, and offering award-winning wines paired with scrumptious food prepared by local chefs and restaurants.
Admission is $55 per person for a Weekend Pass, which includes a souvenir wine glass and event tastings at all participating wineries. Advance ticket purchase is recommended for this usual sellout. Buy and learn more at heartofsonomavalley.com
Sonoma Chorale sings Bernstein
The 100-voice Sonoma Valley Chorale, now in its 37th season, presents “Brilliantly Bernstein,” on March 20 and 21 at Sonoma Veterans Memorial Building.
Artistic Director David Irvine has selected music that spans Bernstein’s brilliant career, with music from “Peter Pan,” “The Lark,” “Mass” and “Trouble in Tahiti.” The concert will conclude with one of his masterpieces, “Chichester Psalms” written for choir, two pianos, harp and percussion.
The chorale will be accompanied by JoAnne Conner and Sondra Cooper.
Performances are Saturday, March 20, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 21,
at 2 p.m. Each will be preceded by a preconcert talk with Irvine and Associate Conductor Barbara McElroy concerning the Bernstein compositions featured on the program.
Reserved seating tickets are available by calling 935.1576. General admission tickets are available at Pharmaca and the UPS Store.
Wildflower walk at Montini
Join Sonoma Ecology Center naturalists on March 21 and explore the Montini Open Space Preserve, searching for hound’s tongue, shooting stars, and other early season beauties. Protected since 2005 and located just behind downtown Sonoma, this spectacular 98-acre property offers views of San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. This is an intermediate to advanced level hike, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and there is no charge for the outing; to register call 996.0712 ext. 124.
Meet the Musicians series
The Sunday salon series at the Sonoma Community Center – an opportunity to meet, listen to and ask questions of some of the Bay Area’s finest jazz musicians – continues March 21 with drummer Bennie Barth.
A product of the thriving 1950s Indianapolis jazz scene, veteran drummer Barth was a founding member of the popular Mastersounds ensemble, a melodic and easy listening bop group, which included vibraphonist Buddy Montgomery, pianist Richie Crabtree and electric bassist Monk Montgomery. Under Barth’s canny trap set supervision, his trio, which usually consists of veteran guitarist Randy Vincent and bassist Gary Digman, plays melodic modern jazz with guts and soul. Now, as an octogenarian and Bay Area jazz mainstay, Barth lives in Monte Rio where he plays golf and drives a few miles every Tuesday evening to the Main Street Station in Guerneville to play drums.
Tickets are $20, $18 for jazz society and community center members. sonomacommunitycenter.org
Big Ideas to the World
A women’s forum to create their own big, bold ideas, “Awakening Your Legacy – Big Ideas and Rich Conversations with North Bay Women,” continues March 24 with Dr. Len Saputo at Ramekins Event Center.
Saputo will discuss his book “A Return to Healing.” Saputo was inspired to change how he thought about health and healing when he was faced with solving his wife’s life-threatening illness. With an approach that is holistic and preventive in focus, he founded the Health Medicine Center in Walnut Creek where he has been experimenting with new approaches to creating a financially sustainable practice focused on improving the way medicine is practiced.
A 1965 graduate of Duke University Medical School, Saputo is board certified in internal medicine. For 40 years he has been a practicing physician in affiliation with John Muir Medical Center in the East Bay.
The program and dinner begin at 5:45 p.m. with a cash bar and end at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $60 per person, $62 online. Ramekins, 450 W. Spain St., Sonoma. Register by contacting forum cofounder Carole Peccorini at 996.2167 or online at sonomabigideas.blogspot.com
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