The scheme was for the County to build a garage to best serve Ken Mattson, who owns the post office building at Highway 12 and Boyes Boulevard, in exchange for a patch of grass and call it a ‘community Plaza’. That deal is officially dead. But the community group Wake Up Sonoma, which formed in anger to fight the garage plan, continues on. Organizer Vanessa Napoles and others are suspicious of all the Mattson and Mattson/Lefever (his company) plans – and he owns 80+ properties in Sonoma Valley. Approved projects like the Boys Food Center, and the Lanning Structures building, which is hole in the ground five years after grand plans were announced, never get built. Other retail spots, like Cocoa Planet, sit empty; others, Sonoma Cheese Factory, for example, are in embarrassing disrepair. So, Wake Up is turning up the heat. The group promises to protest in front of a different Lefever/Mattson owned property. On February 4, its Cocoa Planet (above), 921 Broadway, 10-noon. “Bring signs that communicate our frustration with Lefever/Mattson leaving buildings vacant, and putting profits over community.”… The group is also planning a Town Hall on February 23, 6pm, at Sonoma Community Center, to present its larger ideas. Free, but you must RSVP. Wakeupsonoma.com.
Charlotte Hajer, the executive director at the Sonoma Community Center, has resigned; her last day was January 27. No word why, but she did get the ‘we wish her well’ nod from the board of directors. Said Chair Jan Jan Erickson, “We are disappointed to see her go and will work as a Board to minimize any impact during the transition.” During a board search for a new ED, Vanessa Rognlien, herself a member of the board, will be the Interim ED (and maintain her current role as the Executive Director of Sonoma Valley Youth and Family Services…
The surprise news came right as the Center’s big anniversary gallery show opened. It’s dubbed ‘That 70s Show,’ which is cute – it’s the 70th anniversary. So Mike Acker and Molly Spencer gathered years of news stories, event posters and photos, theater handbills, and other memorabilia to tell the visual story, arranged by decade. Turns out Memory Lane is a long, long hallway. Pictured: Spencer, Acker, Rognlien on opening night.
More local history in a local historical landmark: ‘Picturing the Springs,’ the history of The Springs in photographs, is open at Sonoma’s Depot Park Museum. Curated by the very busy Michael Acker, the artist and photo-historian, the exhibition is open Saturdays and Sundays, 1-4pm, through February 26. This time, Memory Lane is in an old train station.
Jaime Love, artistic director of the Sonoma Arts Live theater company, is Sonoma’s Treasure Artist of the Year for 2023. She’s been in the biz over 35 years: actor, producer, singer, director, writer and voice-over artist. She’s elevated SAL (and its Sonoma home, the Rotary Stage at Andrews Hall) into an award-winning company of regional note. Plus, when need arises and it usually does, she jumps in to help dress the sets and find the costumes. A theater kid through and through.
Victoria Hernandez, a junior at Sonoma Valley High School, is the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley’s 2023 Youth of the Year. She was selected from among four other finalists who shared their stories at a Clubs event with family, friends, and community members. “Victoria has shown that she is not only a leader amongst her peers but she is also leading the way in advocating for mental health programs for teens.” Now, she leads a mental health club at her school, and started its first podcast where she speaks about mental health topics…Victoria will represent Teen Services in the next step of the Youth of the Year program which will be held at the Boys & Girls Club of Silicon Valley in March. Prior to that, she will have the opportunity to freshen up on her public speaking skills as she will speak at our Sweetheart Gala & Auction on February 11.
The Sonoma-Tokaj Sister City Committee is offering a unique work, learning and cultural experience this Fall: working the wine harvest in a world-class wine region in Hungary. Sonoma and Tokaj have been Sister Cities since 2012, and as part of an annual cultural exchange, interns from Sonoma are sent to work the crush at the prestigious Tokaj-Hétszőlő Wine Estate. The gig comes with $2,000 towards airfare and expenses, and the winery, whose winemaker speaks English, provides free room and board. An amazing experience and great resume-builder. For more info contact Sylvia Toth at 707.938.0224.
As ciders and champagne were being enjoyed at Pomme, the East Coast contingent weighed in from the end of the bar. “I’m not obnoxious,” said one. “I’m from New Jersey.”
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