But what will I wear?
A good sign of recovery, socially and otherwise: your Save the Date List actually has dates on it. Last year was a washout for parties and fundraisers, but the Big Event is back after a year of cancellations, streaming shows and home-game variations. Broadway Under the Stars returns weekends in August; the Sonoma Valley Authors Festival is booked, too. Sonoma City Party? August 5. Sonoma Community Center fetes Kevin McNeely as the 2021 Muse, on August 14. Cowboy Cab, the Teen Services shindig, rides into Beltane Ranch on September 11. Sonoma Arts Live begins its six-show season, with Sunset Boulevard, on September 24. And the easiest date to remember, New Years Eve. The Sonoma Mentoring Alliance for years threw a lavish bash that night, but gave it up many years ago. It’s back, confirms Susie Gallo, as a splashy way to celebrate 25 years of mentoring Valley youth.
Not on the calendar is the Red & White Ball, the traditional summer Plaza party. The Sonoma Valley Education Foundation is taking the event into hybrid mode, primarily with an online auction. So much for that bright red shirt I wear once a year.
A note about Teen Services, which does so much more than throw parties to show off fancy cowboy boots. Early this year the operation, headquartered in the Springs, became part of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley. The friendly merger was long discussed, but plans accelerated when Covid strained the budgets of both nonprofits. The efficiencies are really starting to be evident, says Cary Snowden, president and CEO of BGCSV. “After over a year of work to put teens first and make this merger a reality, it is so rewarding that now, just weeks after the merger has been finalized, we’re already seeing teens gain access to more programs and services than they did before.”
Students that previously just attended Teen Services Sonoma now have access to the evidence-based college and career readiness program of Boys & Girls Clubs, and at the same time Boys & Girls Club teens have access to the workforce training programs of Teen Services. “I could not be more excited for the opportunities we are going to create for generations of teens to come now that our two organizations have joined forces to put teens first.”
We’re done grumbling about the rash of defections from the Sonoma City Council (three members stepping down within six months, etc.) But now comes the bill. The special election that must be held to fill that third empty chair will cost the city of Sonoma about $30,000… It’s worse at the county level, where the vote to recall District Attorney Jill Ravitch — maneuvered by a bitter, convicted litigant seeking revenge — will cost taxpayers (us, again) nearly one million dollars.
The Sun welcomes Michelle Finn to the top of the fold. Now the proprietor of the home-based Sonoma Sourdoughs, she’s got an old-school newspaper resume (a lot of everything), with the Index Tribune and the Press Democrat. Read her first story, a foodie dispatch from the Back of the House.
Masks will be required indoors when school starts on August 16, according to the latest District directive. Outdoors, optional. But physical distancing won’t be enforced. Too bad; that’s the one rule parents of teenagers were OK with.
For 10 years George Webber — historian, showman, raconteur — inhabited the guise of wine pioneer Count Agoston Haraszthy (1812-1869) for Buena Vista Winery. As an in-character brand ambassador, he’d work the crowd at the Sonoma winery and industry events around the country. But after a decade living the role, he’s hanging up the Count’s brocade waistcoat. RIP again, Count… But Webber is not quite retiring; he’s revived his walking tours on the Sonoma Plaza. Seems that top hat still has some life in it.
At Murphy’s Pub, hardcore soccer fans, fresh off the big Euro Cup tournament, are readying for NFL football. Quips one lad, “At least England can’t lose again.”
