What will 2010 bring? What lies ahead in this New Year, this new decade? We’ve asked a few Sonoma notables to share their hopes, dreams and predictions. Here, while every new day holds promise and all things are possible, are some of the replies.
“The folks hereabouts will continue to show how special this Valley is by their everyday acts of kindness and untold generosity to each other. My prediction for 2010: we’ll bounce out of the downturn with new friends from afar.”
Bill Boerum
Board Chairman, Sonoma Valley Health Care District
“I’m looking forward to having the community being much more aware, grateful and appreciative of our veterans and the men and women serving in our armed forces to keep us safe here at home and when we travel to other parts of the world.”
Gary Magnani
Commander, American Legion Post in Sonoma
“I’m hoping that the economy improves so that everyone can continue with their future plans.”
Bruce Cohn
Winery owner, Doobie Brothers manager, philanthropist
“A New Year is special just because it is so new with a chance for redemption of all those procrastinated projects and old resolutions. Living life at the full pace many of us employ, it becomes necessary to clear the clutter of chatter in our mind so that our priorities may rise to the surface. This year, as most before it, forecast challenges as our state, nation, and world address major issues to maintain our stability. Through the work we do in our home and community, we can make a major contribution to the process. Each of us matters. May this year bring success to each of us.”
Patti Williams
Epi Curious columnist, The Sun
“My first wish, as always, is that Cal should make it to the Rose Bowl, but this year I’ll stick with something more realistic like an end to world hunger.”
Steve Page
President and general manager, Infineon Raceway
“It is my hope that the coming New Year brings with it renewed focus on the well being of our children in Sonoma. The Boys & Girls Clubs’ role in shaping the youth of our Valley will continue to grow, providing hope, inspiration and opportunity.”
David Pier
Executive Director, Boys & Girls Clubs
“My HOPE is that the Stand By Me Mentoring Program continues to thrive,
despite the economy, because the good people of Sonoma Valley believe in the
power of one-on-one relationships!
My WISH for the New Year is that every one of the children on our
waiting list – who need and want a mentor in their life – will get
matched with that mentor in 2010.
My DREAM is that one day this scenario will reverse itself, and instead of children waiting, we will have a long list of caring adults who are ready to mentor kids as they are referred!”
Kathy Witkowicki
Executive Director. Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance
“May 2010 be filled with happiness and good will … broaden the smiles and peace to all.”
Valerie Brown
Sonoma County Supervisor, First District
“‘The Light’ is what La Luz translates to in Spanish, and this means that every day, La Luz sees this light at the end of every long tunnel that comes its way and that no matter how tough times are, or how challenging the task may be, La Luz believes that there is hope for everyone. So in 2010, La Luz Center sees hope and opportunity for all!”
Stephen Dale
Executive Director, La Luz Center
“Many of us are deeply drawn to Sonoma’s heart … simply because this Valley of the Moon continuously whispers to us … ‘here is abiding nature … genuine peace and quiet and abundant beauty … come commune with my soul and protect me.’”
Tom Rusert
Sonoma Birding
“I have high hopes for the year ahead. We are starting to see light at the end of the tunnel after the worst economic meltdown in decades. Our president is setting a hopeful new direction and tone for our country, on both domestic and foreign policy. California will elect Jerry Brown as our new governor, and his skill and experience will help us begin to turn this state around. And voters will have a chance to support major structural reforms, including a Constitutional Convention, to break through the gridlock in Sacramento and restore functional governance to our state.”
Jared Huffman
California Assemblyman
“My wish is for Sonoma to continue down the path to self-sufficiency, honest and open dialogue between cultures, and a real sense of respect for each other and divergent points of view.”
Ken Brown
Sonoma Councilman and host of “Mornings in Sonoma” on KSVY 91.3
“I think 2010 is going to be the best year ever: The wars will be over and we’ll have won hearts, minds and pipelines, climate change will have been proven a hoax, Obama will make the banks and Wall Street behave and mortgage defaults will vanish, we’ll have full employment and pot will be totally legal! Now where’d I put my pipe?”
Will Shonburn
“May the first U.S. Slow City find a way to bring gardens to all our schools, and omega-3s (brain power!) to all our cafeterias. And may Valley parents provide their children with adequate vitamin D (1000 IU per 25 pounds of body weight in winter) to fight flu and boost muscle strength.”
Lauren Ayers
GoodSchoolFood.org
“Health care for all.
Jobs for all.
Peace and security for all.
Immigration reform.
A clean and sustainable planet.
People who are engaged in the bettering of our communities, our nation, and our world.”
Lilla Weinberger
Community Organizer, Organizing for America
I would like to see Sonoma acknowledge and build upon all the things we already have that make this a wonderful place to live and also plan for meeting the challenges of the future. Looking forward, we need to adopt and implement policies that will insure the environmental and economic sustainability of our town. Issues related to water, including conservation, re-use, and ground water recharge, demand special attention as do issues related to the city’s finances.
Steve Barbose
Sonoma Mayor
“What we do in the present soon becomes memorialized in the past. This 2010, let’s think to the future and give them something worth remembering.”
George McKale
Sonoma City Historian and
The Sun columnist
“2009 was a year of change, most of it uncomfortable. Business as usual was a phrase replaced by the need for adaptive change. Assets diminishing, the people in our community are rediscovering value in each other.
2010 will be the beginning year of a new decade calling for the redefining of economic laws that focus on people first, rebuilding and restoration of livelihoods, recognizing the value in natural resources as ecosystem services, and reshaping education to meet these needs. It will also call on a renewed understanding of freedom as the freedom from desperation and want.
In this era of climate disruption, we must revitalize the value of cooperation. As President Franklin Roosevelt put it, ‘Competition has been shown to be useful up to a certain point and no further, but cooperation, which is the thing we must strive for today, begins where competition leaves off.’”
Laurie Gallian
Councilwoman, City of Sonoma
“My hope for the New Year is that we all laugh more, have more fun, get more sleep. My prediction for 2010 is we will have health care for all who need it!”
Penny Byrd
POPO the clown
“I hope that every single day our lives will be filled with curiosity, imagination and inspiration. And I predict that 2010 will be an exceptionally compassionate year for our friends, families and neighbors around the world.”
Kate Eilertsen
Executive Director, Sonoma Valley Museum of Art
“We live in such a generous community, even in lean times like this past year, people still take care of those in need. But I am very much looking forward to 2010 and a renewed sense of optimism and refocused energy.”
Fran Meininger.
Executive Director, Sonoma Valley Education Foundation
“Stepping out on a limb, I’m predicting a return to the playoffs for both the 49ers and Giants.”
August Sebastiani
Sonoma Mayor Pro Tempore
“My wish is for significant economic improvement so that school districts are not forced to enact additional detrimental reductions. I wish for prosperity instead so we can implement needed educational reforms to better prepare our students for the 21st century.”
Dr. Pam Martens
Superintendent, Sonoma Valley Unified School District
“In 2010, millions more in the U.S. and in disparate corners of the world will learn about and then choose to study and practice Compassionate Communication. The resulting understanding and conviction that everyone’s needs matter will dramatically transform not only interpersonal communication but will also profoundly influence businesses, governments and communities to collaborative negotiations and agreements. The street urchin and the elite, the stockholder and the farmer, the prisoner and the senator, the teacher and the ditch-digger, each of us around the world will find life is more wonderful as we each are understood and even loved.”
Joan Huguenard
just joan columnist, The Sun
