51st Annual Occidental Volunteer Fire Department Barbeque
Summer is here and it is almost time for Occidental’s annual firefighters’ chicken barbeque. This year’s event is the 51st annual barbeque and it is always a great party! It will be held under the redwoods on Sunday, July 22 at the Union Hotel Grove on Bohemian Highway, ¼ mile north of downtown Occidental. They will be serving from noon to 4:00p.m. The admission is free and there will be live music for listening and dancing, beer, salami throw, raffle, door prizes, wine, barbequed oysters, kids games, bounce house, and desserts. Dinner prices are: Barbequed chicken $10.00, children $7.00, and tri-tip $ 13.00. This year, by popular request, they will be offering “dinners to go” if you don’t have time to stay. Pre-sale tickets are available at Occidental Hardware store or call the fire station at 874-3800. All proceeds benefit the Occidental Volunteer Firefighters Association and donations are always welcome.
Lemmer Named to Dean's List at The Savannah College of Art and Design
Savannah, GA (Grassroots Newswire) June 27, 2007- Merisha Sequoia Lemmer,
of Occidental, was named to the dean's list at the Savannah
College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga., for spring quarter 2007.
Full-time undergraduate students who earn a grade point average of 3.5 or
above for the quarter receives recognition on the dean's list. Lemmer is
a(n) illustration major.
About the Savannah College of Art and Design
Named "Hottest for Studying Art" among America's 25 Hottest Colleges by Kaplan/Newsweek, the Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution with locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Ga., and in Lacoste, France. Accredited undergraduate and graduate degree programs also are offered online through SCAD e-Learning. The college offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Architecture, Master of Arts, Master of Fine Arts and Master of Urban Design degrees. For more information about the college, visit www.scad.edu.
Harmony Ark Has a New Website
Harmony Schools has a support organization known as the Harmony Ark Education Foundation. Each year the Ark Foundation holds an auction. They distribute these funds to support various school activities. They als pay for extra teaching support. They have just set up a new website at www.harmonyark.org. If you visit the website you can find out more about the Ark as well as easy ways for you to support it will free rebate programs. A number of people were involved in setting up the new website: Co-Producers -Jenny Mountjoy and Teresa Book Webster; Web Design – Deborah North; Logo Design – Rodger Eva; Photography – Brian Burke and parent volunteers; Principal Writer and Editor – Teresa Book Webster; and Additional Writers – Donna Cates, Emma Donovan, Jenny Mountjoy, and Audrey Vorkoeper.
April Fool's Day Parade in Occidental
Out-of-Control Control Burn Burns Several Acres in Occidental
Posted Friday March 23, 2007 ------- Thursday night about 7:30 pm, an out-of-control control burn on Willow Creek Road was reported to the Occidental Fire Department. Thursday night is training night and about half of the department was training nearby in a joint structure fire training exercise with Camp Meeker volunteers. When the call came in, more than a dozen Occidental volunteer firefighters responded to the fire in five pieces of fire apparatus. Typically, in this kind of a call, firefighters arriving are greeted with a burn pile that has started to spread and they usually make short work of it. This time, when firefighters arrived, an entire hillside was covered with hot spots was burning in several acres of heavy timber slash. The warm and beautiful night had a relative humidity of only 23 percent, surprisingly low for this time of year,
Occidental Fire Chief Ron Lundardi, first on scene, called for mutual aid from the California Department of Forestry (CDF) and Camp Meeker Volunteers. Later firefighters from Graton and Monte Rio were called in to assist with their water tenders. A crew and from CDF arrived later. Occidental volunteer firefighters laid 500 feet of hose line down the hillside to the bottom of the burn to keep it from spreading up the other side of the valley.
Then, in the darkness, they cut a firebreak five feet wide across the bottom and one side using hand tools. They used the hose line to knock down the hotspots along the edge. The bulldozer was used to cut a firebreak around the entire fire and, because of the cool weather and low wind, the fire was allowed to smolder and burn itself out overnight. A CDF crew returned in the morning to mop up.
Patrick Ball & the Medieval Beasts
The Redwood Arts Council will present Patrick Ball & the Medieval Beasts in the musical telling of one of medieval Europe’s greatest legends, the Romance of Tristan and Iseult (Isolda) at the Occidental Center for the Arts (note the change in venue for this month’s performance) on April 21 at 8:15 pm.
Patrick Ball tells the story much as a medieval storyteller would have done. The words are similar; the musical pieces were known and loved in the Middle Ages; the instruments - the harp, the vielle, the lute, the psaltery, and percussion - were all carried and played by the storyteller and those who accompanied him. And the imagination of the audience is called upon to play its part, just as it was all those centuries ago.
Patrick Ball is both a master storyteller and one of the world’s leading Celtic harpists. His presentation of the Romance of Tristan and Iseult is a project 20 years in the making inspired by his discovery of a small, beautifully bound volume of the legend. In developing the narrative of the tale, he found that the music of the period was every bit as bewitching as the story itself, and provided the perfect atmosphere in which to tell the medieval tale. Working with other musicians, he crafted a layer of music underscoring the story and standing on its own in the natural pauses in the narration.
Performing with Mr. Ball is Shira Kammen playing vielle, medieval harp and singing. This multi-instrumentalist and vocalist has spent well over half of her life exploring the worlds of early and traditional music. She is a long-standing member of the early music Ensembles Alcatraz, Project Ars Nova, and Medieval Strings. She has also worked with Sequentia, Hesperion XX, Boston Camerata and the Balkan group KITKA as well as with the Oregon, California and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals.
Peter Maund studied percussion at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and music, folklore and ethnomusicology at the University of California, Berkeley. He has performed throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East as a member of Ensemble Alcatraz, Davka, and Alasdaire Fraser’s Skyedance. He has also appeared with Chanticleer, Ensemble Project, Ars Nova, the Harp Consort, Hesperion XX and other early and contemporary music ensembles. In addition, he has recorded for dozens of labels, has played on several films and has served on the faculty of University of California at Berkeley.
Tickets are available at Handgoods in Occidental. If available, tickets may also be purchased at the concert. Prices are $20.00 for general admission and $10.00 for full-time students. Infants and very young children will not be admitted. For further information and to request a 2006-2007 season brochure, call The Redwood Arts Council at (707) 874-1124, or visit www.redwoodarts.org.
Obiturary: Mark Gonnella
Occidental’s landmark Union Hotel co-owner Mark A. Gonnella has died at age 51. Family members said he died at his Occidental home of a form of cancer.
The Gonnella family has operated the Union Hotel since 1925. Occidental at the time was a logging town with a fair share of Italian immigrants. The family Hotel followed their grandparent’s practice of serving traditional Italian meals. The family made the Hotel a center of community in the close-knit town.
They opened a second Union Hotel Restaurant in 1997 on West College Ave and another on Mission Blvd in October last year. The Hotel hosts a town Christmas tradition of caroling at the hotel bar as well as numerous fundraising efforts like the Bob Burke’s Kids Program. Recently they helped raise money for the medical expenses of a little girl who had fallen into a well.
He was a member of the Bodega Harbour Golf and Men's Club and the Druids Grove 94 of Occidental.
He is survived by his mother, Lucille M. Gonnella; his wife, Tracy T. Gonnella; his sister, Mary Theresa Gonnella; his brothers and restaurant business partners, Daniel Gonnella and Frank Gonnella, all of Occidental; and another brother, Michael Gonnella, who lives in Utah. He also leaves two children, Francesca R. Gonnella and Theordore M. Gonnella, as well as two stepchildren, Shane Christiansen and Morgan Christiansen, all of Occidental; and a granddaughter.
Friends may call for visitation after 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Parent-Sorensen Mortuary, 301 S. Main St., Sebastopol. A vigil service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at St. Philip Catholic Church in Occidental. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at the church at 10 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Druids Cemetery, Occidental.
The family restaurants will be closed until 4 p.m. on the day of the funeral.
The family suggests contributions to Memorial Hospice, 821 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa 95401.
Occidental Fools’ Day Parade Needs New Head Fool
Kate Price, Head Fool for the Annual Occidental Fools’ Day Parade is retiring from her position of Head Fool and looking for a replacement. She is willing to help, but just can’t produce the entire event for herself. If you are interested in helping, please contact her at occidentalfools@yahoo.com
Head Fool Kate Price gives last minute instructions to the parade marchers in last years Occidental Fools' Day Parade
Euclid String Quartet to Play in Occidental
On Saturday, February 17, the Redwood Arts Councilwill present the Euclid String Quartet in the acoustically superb sanctuary of the Occidental Community Church in Occidental at 8:15 pm. The program includes Mozart’s String Quartet in D Major, K. 499, the Hoffmeister, Ginastera's String Quartet #1, Opus 20, Turina's Bullfighter's Prayer, and Janacek's String Quartet #1, and the Kreutzer Sonata.
The Euclid String Quartet is a multinational young group known for performances filled with passion and deep insight. Founded in Cleveland, the quartet took its name from the great Avenue that connects the downtown with the Cultural Center of the City. The energetic group recently won third prize at Japan's Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and has also earned top prizes at the Carmel, Yellow Springs and the Hugo Kauder competitions. Prestigious venues where the quartet has played include Merkin Hall and Carnegie Hall. As part of the Aspen Music Festival, the musicians introduced two world premiers. During their current season, they will perform at the Library of Congress.
Tickets are available at Hand Goods in Occidental. If available, tickets may also be purchased at the concert. Prices are $20.00 for general admission and $10.00 for full-time students. Infants and very young children will not be admitted. For further information and to request a 2006-2007 season brochure, call The Redwood Arts Council at (707) 874-1124, or visit www.redwoodarts.org.
Discovering Our Watershed
Posted Jan. 11, 2007 ---------- Harmony School’s EE Steering Board has announced the second part of our three part series, “Discovering Our Watershed” that is called: “Reading the Land: Explore the Watershed from Forest to Estuary”. The event will be held on Saturday, January 27 at Harmony and Salmon Creek Schools. You can join teachers, parents, students, and community members for a hike, presentation, and panel discussion with Fred Euphrat, Brock Dolman, Kathleen Kraft and Lauren Hammack as they explore the Salmon Creek Watershed.
You will learn how water and soil move through a watershed, gain a deeper understanding of ecosystem interactions, and gain useful ideas for land management. If you are lucky, there will be migrating steelhead to be seen.
The hike begins at 10 am at Salmon Creek School. The indoor program begins at 12:30. Please wear sturdy shoes because parts of the trail are uneven and steep. Bring a lunch. Hot beverages and desserts will be provided. The program will be appropriate for families with children over 10 years of age. There will be a parallel program provided for younger children. This is an amazing opportunity to learn from expert naturalists and teachers about our own amazing spot in the universe. Laurel Anderson, our talented EE Coordinator, will coordinate the children’s program. For more information, please contact the school.
Lost Hiker Rescued in Occidental
Posted January 5, 2007 --------- On Christmas Eve, two visitors to Occidental, Diana Shapiro of Berkeley California and Adela Pedroza of Tucson Arizona, went for a walk. After recommendations from people they met, they headed out to the Mendocino Redwoods property in Occidental, near the new addition to the Sonoma Coast State Beach. About 3:30 pm, on their way back, they got separated and Diana made a wrong turn and began heading downhill instead of up. By 4:45 pm Adela had returned to their car and waited for her friend.
Adela was concerned that her friend Diana had not returned. She encountered other hikers asking about her lost friend. The other hikers called 911. That call activated Sonoma County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue and the Occidental Volunteer Fire Department.
Even though it was Christmas Eve, about a dozen volunteer firefighters responded to the call and began searching. Sheriff’s Search and Rescue normally takes the lead in a situation like this. They are a countywide organization that also depends on volunteers. But their response can take about four hours. They then set up a mobile command post as their volunteers arrive to begin searching. In the meantime, Occidental Fire began their search.
Diana had forgotten she had her cell phone in her pocket. When she discovered it, she called 911 and got the CHP dispatch center that handles 911 calls from cell phones. They contacted Sonoma County’s dispatch center.
Dispatch no had Diana’s cell phone number and relayed that to Occidental Fire. Diana didn’t know where she was and did not have a flashlight. Luckily the forecast rain was delayed. She was adequetely dressed for the moment.
Occidental Fire setup a command post with good cell reception and relayed Diana’s replies by radio to the other Occidental Fire units. Other Occidental Fire units drove the rough old logging roads with Adela. Adelaa was able to identify areas she and Diana had been. The Fire trucks would stop and sound their sirens to see if Diana could hear them.
At first she couldn’t hear anything. After a few hours of the siren calls, about 7:30 pm, Diana said she could hear them faintly. Volunteers kept driving until they could shout and hear her reply in the distance. About 8 pm she reported seeing headlights through the trees. It took another half hour to follow the logging roads back to the command post and Diana and Adela’s car. Aside from being a bit cold and scared, Diana was fine. Having her cell phone with her made the rescue and her wait much easier. Everyone returned to their Christmas Eve homes and plans.
