Earth Day turns 50!
A sign of gratitude from the Glen Ellen Forum.
And the Sonoma Ecology Center turns 30! Face to face celebrations will have to wait, but in honor of their birthday, Earth Day 2020, and the current global situation, SEC held a very successful “Victory Garden Starter Kit Give Away” at the end of April. Cars were lined up around the plaza where the kits were handed out drive-through style in the horseshoe. Great community support, SEC!
This column, in fact, is dedicated to community and our need to be helpers and support each other during this crazy, unprecedented time. We all feel some measure of loss, anxiety, and confusion, but let's dig deep and draw on and cultivate the connectedness and resilience of our town. We are #GlenEllenStrong! Two local nonprofits have teamed up to make the beginning of May a celebration of our community.
T-shirt fundraiser
The Glen Ellen Fair Association has revived an on-line #GlenEllenStrong t-shirt sale fundraiser to support the local community. The campaign is open until May 10. Proceeds will go to local nonprofits. Go to the Custom Ink fundraising website (www.customink.com/fundraising) and search for “We are glenellenstrong.”Stay socially connected
The Glen Ellen Forum is encouraging community members to submit a check-in or hello message for their neighbors. This can be a video clip or a block of text with or without video, and can be submitted via email to forum@glenellen.org. A montage will be created and posted on the Forum Facebook page and on the website. What a great way to stay connected and foster our neighborhood feel in the midst of our shelter-in-place. So many are celebrating important milestones right now - house move-ins, graduations, birthdays, anniversaries… Reach out and share this positivity with your community.30th annual Glen Ellen Village Fair
While acknowledging that we are in a world of unknown right now, the Glen Ellen Fair Association and committee is cautiously optimistic that Fair 2020 will go on as usual and they are planning as such. This year's theme is “The Good Ol' Days” and the group is excited to announce the selection of long-time Glen Ellenite Rick Dunham for Grand Marshal. Please save the date of Sunday, Oct. 11, noon-5 p.m. The next Glen Ellen Fair planning meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 11, at 6:30 p.m. This will be a Zoom meeting; please email glenellenfair@att.net to get on the email list for meeting and event information.One of our favorite village events will not be held this year. Unfortunately, the annual Glen Ellen Fire House Mothers' Day Pancake Breakfast will not be happening. Please consider giving to the fire department as they are missing out on both this important fundraiser and, likely, the dinner dance and auction in June as well. The pancake breakfast is typically the time of the fair quilt reveal and the kick off of raffle ticket sales.
Raffle tickets for the Glen Ellen Village Fair quilt are on sale now.
The buzz from around the bend
SDC's Planning Advisory Team held its second meeting at the beginning of April. A meeting summary and other information about the formation, goals, and process of this team can be found at their website, www.sdcspecificplan.com/planning-advisory-team. The group is still hoping to host several community events over the next several months.The April monthly meeting for the Glen Ellen Forum was held on Zoom and still drew more than 30 participants, which is a testament to the community spirit of our beautiful village. Dr. Katherine Hargitt presented on mental health during this prolonged crisis and also gave her perspective as a front line healthcare worker at this time. Her take home message to all was the importance of practicing BOLD self care. The projects committee announced that BJ Blanchard is stepping back and that Laurie Pile is stepping up. Impossible to have the group town clean-ups that were planned while we are isolating in SIP, but this group is responsible for the inspirational and supportive banners you may have seen around town. The community is encouraged to join the next Glen Ellen Forum monthly meeting via Zoom on Monday, May 4, 6:30 p.m. Look for announcements (and recordings of past meetings/presentations) on theFacebook page, on the website (www.glenellen.org), or request to join the email list at forum@glenellen.org.
The quarterly Glen Ellen Forum Board of Directors meeting was held on April 16. The board wants to acknowledge and thank two exiting members for their multi-year service, Margie Foster (treasurer), and Jim Shere (secretary). Several new locals joined the board via election: Debbie Lammers, Amanda Shone (secretary), and Dave Shefferman (treasurer). Information about the board can be found at www.glenellen.org.
Do you have any Glen Ellen stories to share? Milestones? Celebrations? Email shannon@kenwoodpress.com, or call 996-3352.
Email: shannon@kenwoodpress.com
