Village Chat
New Girl Scout troop has formed in the Valley
Troop 10282 started meeting in February, and they have already been very busy. The girls helped organize cookbooks donated for fire victims - 12 boxes full, collected by the girl & the fig's Sondra Bernstein and food writer Kathleen Hill. They paired up with older scouts for Wildflower Bingo, where they looked for wildflower renewal in the heavily burned Sonoma Valley Regional Park. Working with the older girls was a good way to learn the Girl Scout Way of “Being a Sister to Every Scout” and “Use Resources Wisely,” said Abigail. There are lots of other outings planned - learning first aid at the Kenwood fire station, a camping trip in Sugarloaf, hiking, and more. Girl Scouts are all about focusing on nature and community-oriented activities as they work toward their Girl Scout Way petals (K-1) and badges (2-3). It looks like Troop 10282 Kenwood is well on its way to making a difference and creating a future generation of community leaders!
On March 7, the Sonoma Home Winemakers (formerly known as the Valley of the Moon Dilettante Enological Society) distributed over 200 bottles of their very best wines, a mix of various red and white varietals, blends and even some port, to show their appreciation to Sonoma Valley firefighters for their heroic effort to save our valley during the October fires.
Wine for First Responders
The SMH created a special back label which says, “Thank You For Saving Our Valley - A gift of gratitude from the Sonoma Valley Home Winemakers.”
The wine was delivered to all Sonoma Valley firefighters from Schell Vista to Kenwood. John Randazzo, co-president of SHM and a Glen Ellen resident, said the idea originated with board member J. W. Nickel who worked with a dozen volunteers to pull it all together. If you want to know more about the Sonoma Home Winemakers, email grapes@sonomahomewine.org.
There will be a Celebration of New Ministry for new St. Patrick's Rector, the Rev. Doyle Dietz Allen, on Saturday, April 7 at 3 p.m., and the whole community is invited. Bishop Barry Beisner, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California, will preside at the service, and afterward there will be a reception in Stevenson Hall. The church is located at 9000 Sonoma Hwy., across from the Kenwood Fire Station.
In late February/early March, John and Marjorie MacLeod took a much-needed vacation to Baja, visiting Laura and John Benward who were also vacationing down there in Las Barriles, on the Sea of Cortez.
John & Marjorie drinking it up on the beach in Baja
And now for a complete 180, last month Victor Reus of Glen Ellen sent in some amazing pictures from his recent trip to Antarctica. He wrote to us describing the wildlife (penguins!), the ever-changing weather, the ice, the boat with its Russian captain and international crew, saying that Antarctica seems untouched by man. “It was quite wonderful, like nowhere else on earth. Lots of encounters with whales (mostly humpbacks and minke, but very curious and emerging vertically within feet from the zodiacs to take a look around), seals of various sizes, sorts and dispositions, penguins the same, and birds of all types, ranging from small terns to nine-foot wingspan albatrosses, looking much like a pterodactyl when they swooped close by.
Victor Reus in Antarctica
“The icebergs themselves are magnificent, in all sorts of shapes and textures according to their age and source of origin and stage of melting. Some small, others gargantuan, with lots of internal holes and waterfalls, and striations of color below the waterline, on their way to turning over, which they all do in time. And then the occasional crystalline iceberg, not white, as from a recent glacial separation, but emerging from the core of a very old flow, encompassing ice that is 10,000 years old, without any embedded oxygen left.”
Antarctic petrals on an Antarctic journey
Victor even took a dip in the frigid Arctic waters - 29 degrees Fahrenheit. A master of understatement, he writes, “It is, I can report, as cold as one might expect. But there were shots of vodka before and after.”
Very cool! (Pun intended.) Thanks for sharing!
Believe it or not, it's April, and that means we're headed toward graduation season. Please send us your high school, college, or post-graduate news, along with photos of course (and the KP does not need to be in them!) We'll print the college graduation news at it happens, and the high school news in our June 15th issue. All you have to do is email ann@kenwoodpress.com or call 833-5155 and chat me up! - AQP
Email: ann@kenwoodpress.com
