Sonoma Raceway wants permission to throw a three-stage, four-day music festival, plus host smaller, non-racing events and put a winery at the track. The proposal gets a public airing by the Sonoma Valley Citizens Advisory Commission on February 25, 6:30 p.m. at 177 First St. W., Sonoma. It figures the facility (one of nine owned nationwide by Speedway Motorsports, Inc.) wants more and better use of its 1,600 acres on non-racing days. Then there’s the specter of falling attendance coming up fast in the rearview mirror. There’s no naming-rights deal in place, and fan numbers for the track’s marquee NASCAR weekend have been falling since a 127,600 total in 2009. According to numbers provided to the SVCAC, the track’s 2013 NASCAR attendance was 97,800. Like a car’s speed after down-shifting into a chicane, that’s a big drop off… As for any traffic problem, at least it keeps folks from getting to Napa.
Of the top 100 nonprofit organizations (ranked by revenue) incorporated in Sonoma County, six are based in the Sonoma Valley, according to the California Association of Nonprofits. They are, by County rank: 66) Sweetwater Spectrum, Sonoma, $2 million. 68) Sonoma Community Center, Sonoma, $1.9 million. 74) Quarryhill Botanical Garden, Glen Ellen. 84) Vintage House, Sonoma, $649,000. 85) Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, Sonoma, $640,000. 94) La Luz Center, Sonoma, $370,000.
There goes Jenny Chen, 18, training for the Napa Valley Marathon on March 1, her first. The Sonoma Valley High School student took up the challenge as her senior project. “I’ve always enjoyed running since I was in elementary school,” said the teen. “In elementary and middle school, I always set the record time for females in our class for running one mile. I enjoy hobbies such as cooking, sewing, and drawing, but none of them can compete with the thrill and satisfaction of running.”
No surprise that the City of Sonoma extended the management of the Tuesday Night Farmers to the incumbent, Valley of the Moon Çertified Farmers Market. But why for only two years? Seems like Bill Dardon and company have proven to be more than competent in growing and running the event. A longer – yes, more sustained – contract seemed in order. At least all the reports are printed on recycled paper.
From the Trying Too Hard file comes a half-baked idea from the Girl Scouts: virtual cookies. There’s now a cookie booth locator app and a new, national “Digital Cookie sales platform.” The day had to come. But wasn’t the charm of the cookie table at the market, or the scouts at your door (or one of their parents hounding you at work) enough? Wasn’t the smile of a nine-year-old the ultimate, if old-fashioned, marketing tool? Apparently not, making the announcement of a new flavor, Rah-Rah Raisins – the requisite gluten-free cookie, with of course Greek yogurt – somehow inevitable.
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It makes sense to only renew management of the Farmers’ Market for two years . Anything longer and any management team can become complacent and lack innovation.