Vintage Fest needs your help
Editor’s note: The following letter was sent on behalf of the Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival.
Dear Sonoma Valley Residents,
The Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival celebrates its 113the year with our annual Festival this September 24, 25, and 26. As a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, the Vintage Festival is established exclusively for charitable purposes to conduct an annual festival to provide a fundraising venue for non-profit organizations in the Sonoma Valley. Last year, thanks to your generous support, our local non-profits netted over $20,000 from the festival weekend, and we were able to donate an additional $12,000 from the proceeds of our Patrons’ Night and the festival itself to our beneficiaries. We thank you for your support and we hope that you and your families had some fun doing it.
The reason we come to you now is not the profitability of the festival – even in these lean years, with the overall cost of putting on the festival approaching $100,000 annually, our all volunteer board has taken the steps that were necessary to make a profit for the weekend – but rather it’s the need for renewed public involvement and participation in the workings of the festival itself. It seems that over the past few years we have lost the help of too many of those stalwarts whose generous efforts helped to ensure the success of the festival these past few decades. That, coupled with the fact that Valley residents probably have become so accustomed to the festival that it appears as if it is on auto-pilot, have resulted in a situation where we are concerned about the continued survival of this “only in Sonoma” tradition.
To put it another way, we need help! Ranging from serving on committees that plan and present the parade, the Grape Stomp, the reenactment of the Vallejo/Haraszthy wedding, etc; to helping out for a couple of hours over the weekend to sell posters and t-shirts at our booth, there are a lot of interesting things to do. All are welcome and we would really appreciate your involvement and participation.
We are holding an informational meeting and reception on June 16, 2010, at 6 p.m. in the Palm Tree Room of the Sonoma Lodge on Broadway, to tell you a little more about what we do and how you can help, as well as to answer any questions that you may have. If you are interested or have any questions before then, please call us at 996-6881 so that we can get an estimate of the number of people who will be attending, or visit our website at sonomavinfest.org. Please also tell your friends about this and we look forward to seeing you on June 16.
Paula Vinson, president,
Valley of the Moon Vintage
Festival board of directors
Do you know about the CLASS Act?
Dear Editor: It made few headlines, caused precious little debate and most families don’t even know about it. But, hidden in the health care overhaul, Congress gave America a little gift that could save local families big in the end. It’s called the CLASS Act, the nation’s first public long-term care insurance program that deducts from Americans’ paychecks now to pay later for the often crushing costs of long-term care.
The American population is aging like never before, as 20 percent of the entire country will be over 65 within the next two decades. Workers who opt into the CLASS Act will be eligible for benefits that will pay for living assistance services like in-home care when the time comes – a huge relief for the millions of Americans that get blind-sided by senior care costs every year. Senior Helpers, a national and local leading in-home senior care provider, is urging Americans to learn about the program and plan ahead. Elderly care is a necessary but often unanticipated expense for families across the country – please help us get the word out about this over-looked program that could be a financial life preserver in old age. We can provide local experts who can talk about the benefit and explain what it means to thousands of families in your city struggling to care for an elderly loved one. More information is available on the web site at seniorhelpers.com.
Bob Nations
Senior Helpers
Santa Rosa and Napa
Sonoma County voters reject Prop 16
Editor: Sixty-six percent of Sonoma County voters and 52.5 percent of all California voters opposed Proposition 16 at the ballot box on Tuesday, rejecting a measure almost entirely funded by PG&E to require a two-thirds vote before setting up a community power alternative in any California community.
Sonoma County has a greenhouse gas reduction target that we are committed to, yet our best efforts to date have not come close to the needed reductions. Solutions with greater impact must be implemented to avoid the worst of climate change.
Today, a group of local leaders from government, business, and the community issued a statement calling for an evaluation of community power programs designed to reduce the carbon content of Sonoma County’s energy supply while keeping utility rates competitive.
We agree that:
The defeat of Prop 16 is a victory for citizens ready to move forward and make our energy supply greener and more efficient.
Sonoma County has a wealth of diverse renewable energy from geothermal, solar, wind, biofuel and other sources, enough to power most of our energy needs. Our goal is to develop these in an economically feasible way.
Local control of the money and incentives of our energy dollars may give us the best solutions to reduce greenhouse gas and keep those dollars in our local economy and adding local jobs.
We are committed to investigating community power options for significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining competitive utility rates and generating green jobs. We call for an evaluation of the challenges and benefits of implementing community power in Sonoma County.
Alan Strachan, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developer
Ann Hancock, Executive Director, Climate Protection Campaign
Dennis Hunter, Developer
Dick Dowd, Pinnacle Homes
Gary Plass, Healdsburg City Councilmember
Gary Wysocky, Santa Rosa City Councilmember
Geof Syphers, Chief Sustainability Officer, Codding Enterprises
Jake MacKenzie, Rohnert Park City Councilmember
Larry Robinson, Sebastopol City Councilmember
Michael Friedenberg, Real Estate Broker
Pam Stafford, Mayor of Rohnert Park
Rick Theis, Sustainability Advocate
Sam Salmon, Windsor City Councilmember
Shirlee Zane, Sonoma County Supervisor
Susan Gorin, Mayor of Santa Rosa
Tiffany Renee, Petaluma City Councilmember