Village Chat for Sept. 15, 2019

Ann Q. Peters

Newlyweds Gabriel Suits and Lauren Friedman

Gabriel Chaim Suits married Lauren Hannah Friedman on Saturday, Aug. 10, at The Secret Gardens in Bodega Bay, in a ceremony officiated by Rabbi Judith Seid.

Gabriel is the son of Ron and Gayle Suits of Kenwood and Beverly and Lisa McCoy of Nashville, Tennessee. He attended Kenwood Elementary School, Mountain Shadows Middle School's Expeditionary Learning program, and is a graduate of Sonoma Valley High School. Gabriel graduated with honors from the City College of San Francisco with an AA in Graphic Design and is currently working as an Art Director for Verdant Brand Communications.

Lauren is the daughter of Brad and Laurie Friedman and Frayda Richman of Denver, Colorado. She is the granddaughter of Shel and Ellen Friedman, Pat Shirley, and Dr. William and Tula Rappaport. Lauren grew up in Denver, attending Cherry Creek High School and the University of Colorado Boulder where she received her bachelor's degree in journalism. She currently leads Brand Social Strategy and Communications at Adobe in San Francisco.

Gabriel was honored to have his brother Ari Suits of Kenwood and Connor Holmes of Sonoma serve as his two Best Men. The other groomsmen were Sam Whittington, Cameron Balliett, Bryce Vree, and Daniel Neilan.

Lauren's wedding party included Julie Vree and Alison Jenings as her Maids of Honor, bridesmaids Casi Gerber, Becca Freeman, Rachael King, and her brother Brandon Friedman as her Bridesman.

Family and friends attended from far and wide, including Colorado, Washington, Arizona, Tennessee, New York, London, Ireland, and the greater Bay Area. Among the many guests in attendance were current and former Kenwoodians: Don and Amy MacNair, Robin and Scott Lane, Barbara Goodman, Brandon Hughes, Bryan Whitfield, Austin Campbell, and newlyweds Stirling and Barb Lundquist.

Congratulations, Lauren and Gabriel!

Bob in the poppies at Beltane Ranch.

The folks over at Beltane Ranch lost a good friend last month - Bob, the steer. Alexa Wood wrote, “His mom was a Hereford cow owned by a friend of mine, and his father was a Black Angus bull. He was orphaned at about two weeks old and I happily took him on. He was a steer when we got him, though many assumed he was a bull because of his size. We bottle-raised him and he became the sweetest giant. The one time we weighed him I believe he weighed 2,600 lbs. He loved to be scratched, by hand under his chin or with a leaf rake all over. He waited outside the vegetable garden for anything edible to be heaved over the fence. In his younger years he just walked through the fence and ate whatever appealed to him. Corn patches were his favorite. He loved to get into the vineyard and eat grapes but only when they were ripe. I think he was 15 when he moved on. We all miss him terribly.” That's a very unusual and lovely life for a cow.

Friends and family picking Sauvignon Blanc at Beltane Ranch.

And speaking of Beltane Ranch, they're busy with harvest and Lauren Krause shared a photo of wine club members getting hands-on in the vineyard. Lauren wrote on Facebook, “Cheers to last night's entire crew for a beautiful clean pick of over 20 tons of estate Sauvignon Blanc headed for @duckhorn.ine. Here are our new friends Lindsay and Patrick via @bohemianhighwaytrav.lco, our innkeeper Molly and her mom, Kelly @the.holistic.farmacy and Alex @planben.ard.” It's Beltane's 11th harvest as a winery. Of course they've been growing grapes for years.

Kyle Bunte and Trail Angel Alisha Meserve, somewhere on I-70 in Colorado.

Here's an update on Kyle Bunte's thru-hike of the Continental Divide Trail. His parents, Kathleen and Mark Bunte, are good friends with John Meserve, whose daughter Alisha Meserve is now a physician assistant in Denver. John let Alisha know that Kyle would be hiking through and maybe she could resupply him as he got close to Denver, which she was happy to do. Kathleen said, “At 12,000 feet, and within site of Denver he shot her a text and said, 'Hey, you busy tomorrow?' Fortunately, it was her day off and she met Kyle and his hiking friends at an off-ramp on Hwy. 70 at high noon. Hikers call this 'Trail Magic.'” And Alisha is now a “Trail Angel.” John said, “She drove over the Rockies to meet him. He needed high protein - anything that was fresh... he (and his trail friends) got large meat sandwiches, huge burritos, a bunch of avocados, and most critically, a 12-pack of cold beer. They sounded delighted... she was delighted to be part of his adventure... and off they went.”

And what's really nice about this story is that Kyle and Alisha have never met, or at least not that they would remember. Kathleen said that it really boosted all the guys' spirits to see Alisha and her two beautiful Golden Retrievers, and it gave them extra energy to knock off another fourteener (that's a 14,000-foot peak, and there are more than a few of them on the trail!) Kyle is down to the final 400 miles and is expecting to finish by the end of September. He already hiked the northern end of the trail and had to double back to hit parts that were inaccessible earlier in the year.

Fran Randol, Norway

Last month was a scorcher around here, but avoiding hot places in August, Oakmonters Mark and Fran Randol took a cruise to Scotland, Iceland, and Norway. They sent us this picture overlooking the Isterdalen Valley along the Trollstigen (The Troll's Path). Mark said it's an impressive drive through the mountains east of Ålesund, Norway that rivals Yosemite. All I can say is, “Wow!”

More recently, Austin and Brooke Campbell, with their kids Paisley and Kroy, were camping in Gualala and sent in a cute photo. It's never too early to introduce your child to the fine art of newspaper perusal!

My favorite fundraiser is coming up, the Kenwood School Spaghetti Feed on Sept. 29, 3-6 p.m., raising money for sixth grade outdoor education. It's at the Maple Ring on the Geib Ranch, a truly magical spot. There'll be delicious food and drink, and lots of people to see, but the best part of the day is the dessert auction. A word of warning though: if you plan on bidding, be sure you have plenty of money in the bank! These cakes, pies and cookies, all made by Kenwood School families, have been known to go for over $200. But, hey, it's all for a good cause, right? The cost is $15 adults and $10 youth. Email KristinLamar03@gmail.com, or stop by the Kenwood Press office for tickets.

That's all for now. Thank you, everyone, for sending in your news and photos for Village Chat. It's easy to do. Just email ann@kenwoodpress.com, or call 833-5155 and chat me up! - AQP