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When Dave Chavoya was hired in 1973 to work for the City of Sonoma’s parks, his designation was “maintenance man 1.”
“One was the lowest (rating),” he recalled earlier this week, adding, with typical modesty, “In fact, I think I was 1-a.”
Back then, the Sonoma Plaza wasn’t much to look at. Of course, there were structures such as City Hall, Grinstead Amphitheater and the Carnegie Library (now home to the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau), along with trees and the rose garden that had been planted by Frank Wedekind. But there were none of the improvements Sonomans now take for granted – no sidewalks, no lighting and no sprinkler system.
Some 36 years and 200 trees and untold yards of intersecting pathways later Chavoya, who rose through the ranks to become parks superintendent, is on the brink of retirement. In fact Friday, July 24 is his last day.
General Mariano Vallejo would likely be amazed to see the changes at the eight-acre plaza he laid out in 1835, part of his plan to transform Sonoma from essentially a mission town to more of a Mexican-style pueblo. As with any pueblo, the Plaza was first and foremost conceived as a parade ground for the commandante’s troops. So of course it was usually dusty and dry, except for a ditch running through its midsection. Ultimately, water was made available for the soldiers to replenish their horses and no one thought of supplying glasses of wine to visitors.
But offering wine to out-of-towners is just what Vallejo did 11 years later on the eve of the Bear Flag Revolt. Staged by a group of Americans, 10 percent of California’s population in the 1840s were American, who rode into town in June of 1846 with the intention of establishing an independent California republic right here. They roused Vallejo, whose natural reaction was to put on his military duds and suggest they all have a glass of wine. Instead, the visitors arrested the general, lowered the Mexican flag and raised the Bear Flag in short order. Less than a month later, after the intervention of the U.S. government, it was all over. Down came the Bear Flag and up went the Stars and Stripes. The dramatic events of those days have been reenacted on the plaza each June for the past 163 years, courtesy of the Native Sons of the Golden West.
By the time the Sonoma Woman’s Club unveiled a rock monument dedicated to the revolt in 1907, the transformation of the plaza into the centerpiece of the city was going full steam ahead. Construction of the new city hall was underway, followed by the Carnegie Library in 1913. In the 1920s, Judge R. A. Grinstead had become an active force in urging the city to adopt a plan for the plaza that would eventually include landscaping, a duck pond, a children’s playground and the Grinstead Amphitheater.
Still, when Dave Chavoya arrived on the scene, he was underwhelmed by the park’s charms. A native of Madera, he grew up and attended college in Fresno before relocating to Sonoma to pursue his musical career – which he still pursues with his group, the Hellhounds.
Like many young artists, however, he had to make a living. Chavoya figured his gardening experience might help on his application for a city parks job, but he received only a letter of acknowledgement. He began working for an “elderly man” who bugged Chavoya relentlessly until he gave in and re-applied. Two interviews, three written tests and one month later, he was hired.
Had it not been for Harold Bowie, Chavoya might well have missed his calling as what one might term the “godfather of Sonoma Plaza.”
“Pat Tatin was the only other one working” for the parks when he was hired, said Chavoya, who recounted their works-in-progress. “We put a sprinkler system in – that took us three or four years – then installed all the lighting,” after the electrical lines were put in.
“There were no benches,” said Chavoya, “and only one picnic table. We bought and installed them all – I even had to dig the holes. The ground in the plaza is hard pan so it took all day to dig three or four holes.”
In creating a place people would want to visit, however, Chavoya and his co-workers may have done too good a job. When he first came to the Plaza, there were only four annual events. By the 1990s, the place was filled most weekends during the year by visitors and locals attending popular festivals.
A major headache was that with the increased foot traffic the soil compacted even further. Chavoya went to the landscape professionals at University of California, Davis, who suggested alternating festival use among the four quadrants of the plaza so each one would have a year to recover from the stress and damage to shrubs and tree roots, a plan adopted by the City Council.
“What it is coming down to someday,” Chavoya said, “is the question: Do you want a real park for locals or do you want to cater to events and destroy the park?”
Chavoya remembers the challenges attendant to one event – late but unlamented by him –the four-day Salute to the Arts festival. “There were 10,000 people every day. We had to turn off the sprinklers from Tuesday to Sunday night,” he said.
“You’ll see a big difference in the park over the years because of the water situation,” he said. “We’ve already cut (watering) by 25 percent and with hot weather, events, foot traffic and lack of water … there’s no simple answer.”
Chavoya credits outstanding city managers over the years, including Brock Arner and Frank James, with supporting park improvements and said that now the city has enough maintenance workers; John Trueblood, Paul Copeland, Tom Arlington, Nick Moline and Terry Melberg, who will take over as supervisor that “someone is in the Plaza every day.”
Even on a slow day, the team has to keep an eye out for children who climb on fragile saplings or chase ducks with sticks and even for adults who ignore the ban on dogs on Plaza property.
On Tuesday, July 28, city officials will dedicate the horseshoe in front of City Hall and Mayor Ken Brown will read a proclamation praising Chavoya’s devotion to the Plaza.
Chavoya is grateful, even overwhelmed, at the honors, but doesn’t want a big send-off. “I’d rather have lunch with the guys I worked with all these years,” he said. “I’ve always said that job was the best thing that happened to me outside my family and children. The city is great to work for.”
Annual Plaza events
Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival (September, since 1947)
Olive Festival (Dec. – Feb.)
Sonoma International Film Festival (April)
Cinco de Mayo (May)
Sonoma Jazz + (May)
Ox Roast (June)
Bear Flag Reenactment (June, since 1847))
Fourth of July parade
Farmers Market (Tuesdays, April – Oct.)
Discontinued events
Red & White Ball (est. 1991)
Salute to the Arts
Frontier Days
