Category: News

Petaluma, California: Lighted Boat Parade Tonight 5:30-7:30PM

Petaluma Lighted Boat Parade-30A flotilla of decorated boats will illuminate the Petaluma River Turning Basin in Historic Downtown to celebrate the holiday season tonight.

Individual boaters and the local yacht clubs join in the Petaluma Lighted Boat Parade every year.  Boats aglow with colored lights and holiday decorations start from the Petaluma Marina at dusk (about 5:30 p.m.) to sail into the Historic Downtown Harbor against the darkening sky.

The flotilla remains on view all night long in the Turning Basin.  Following the Lighted Boat Parade, visitors and local residents mingle in Historic Downtown, gathering to dine, drink hot chocolate, snack and enjoy the remainder of the evening entertaining themselves at the many nearby restaurants & clubs.

Here is a short video to kick off the celebration:

Also you can find Carollers in our downtown like the Pacific Empire Chorus – here is a teaser from last year.

Sketch Artist Captures Petaluma California Veteran’s Day Parade

TO SEE THE FULL GALLERY PUT YOUR CURSOR ON THE SKETCH ABOVE AND NAVIGATION ARROWS WILL APPEAR – CLICK ON ARROW TO ADVANCE

Gus McDuffie flickr Profile Photo

This morning in our searches for good news and information about Petaluma, California, we ran across the following sketches that we had to share.

This gallery of photos are from Gus McDuffie’s Flickr page where you can see more of his sketch work.  Click the navigation arrows on each sketch to view all of them.

PHOTOS: Petaluma, California Chickens

Our site would not be complete if we didn’t have Petaluma chicken photos.  I have been photo’ing our chickens over the years.  It was brought to my attention that I had chicken photos, when I learned the featured photo above has over 5000 views on flickr.  Most of these were taken at Tolay Lake Regional Park.  So I thought I would take the time to create a gallery and slideshow featuring our feathered friends.

I was also pleasantly surprised to learn that the Positively Petaluma flickr group has grown to over 130 members with now over 1000 Petaluma photos added to the group! Do you have some Petaluma chicken photos to share? Please do so on the Positively Petaluma flickr group.

Enjoy!

Petaluma: 2015 City of Lights Driving Tour Map Released!

Chad Dunbar, Winner of 2009 Petaluma City of Lights Tour
Chad Dunbar, Winner of 2009 Petaluma City of Lights Tour

Plus Video of Santa’s Tug Boat Arrival

Every year people from all over Sonoma and Marin County visit and enjoy Petaluma’s City of Lights driving tour which officially starts today.  This year we have 16 home entries and 21 businesses. This self-directed tour will continue through December 29th.

Click here to see the 2015 Petaluma City of Lights Driving Tour Map. Judging will happen over this weekend, and winners will be announced by December 11th.

Also our visitors center did a great job of capturing the crowd, carollers and Santa arriving via tugboat in the Petaluma turning basin. Enjoy the video.



What’s Going On In Petaluma This Week? Also Don’t Miss These Christmas Events!

chittychittybangbang2“Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” – Nov. 20-Dec. 6: Performed by Cinnabar Theater Young Rep. Visit website for show  dates & times. 763-8920

Petaluma Holiday CrafterinoSmall Business Saturday – Sat. All Day: A day dedicated to shopping at local merchants.

Holiday Crafterino – Sat., 11am-4pm: $1 donation. Petaluma Veterans Memorial Hall, 1094 Petaluma Blvd. South. www.petalumadowntowncraftmart.com

Santa’s Riverboat Arrival – Sat., 11:30am: Entertainment starts at 11:30; Santa & Mrs. Claus arrive around noon by Tug, stays for photos until 1:30pm.  River Plaza Shopping Center on E. Washington St.

horse&carriage2The North Pole Connection – Sat. 2:30-7pm & Sun. 1-4pm: Santa Claus available for photos at the Lan Mart Building, 18 Kentucky St.

Holiday Table Centerpiece Workshop – Sat., 10am: Advance registration 664-8656 or Artful Arrangements, 205 Orchard Lane.

Boating at the Barn – Sun., 10am-1pm: Free kayak and row boat rides at the River Heritage Center in Steamer Landing Park. 769-0910  www.petalumasmallcraftcenter.org

navarro trioSunrise Holiday Craft Fair – Sun., 10am-6pm: Delightful holiday craft items & more. Sunrise Senior Living, 815 Wood Sorrell Dr. www.sunriseseniorliving.com

Navarro Trio Concert – Sun., 3pm: Performing Beethoven & Arensky at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum 20 4th St. 778-4398. www.petalumamuseum.com

Light up the park PetalumaEast-Side Farmers’ Market – Tuesdays, 10am-1:30 pm: Year-round, rain or shine! Deer Creek Shopping Center (Friedman’s) 429 No. McDowell Blvd.  415-999-5635.

West Side Stories – Wed. 7:30pm: At Sonoma Porkworks, 613 2nd St. $5. 477-4416 www.westsidestoriespetaluma.com

Hospice “Light up a Life” Tree Lighting Ceremony – Fri., 7pm: Annual community celebration at Center Park, off Petaluma Blvd. www.hospicelightupalife.org

 

CLICK HERE OR PAGE 2 BELOW TO SEE A LIST OF CHRISTMAS AND HOLIDAY EVENTS IN NOVEMBER

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Two videos added to our Petaluma Butter & Egg Days Parade YouTube Playlist

Petaluma High School Marching Band in 2015 Butter & Egg Days ParadeWe have two new 2015 Butter & Egg Days Parade videos added to our playlist.

Petaluma Junior High School Marching Band in 2015 Butter & Egg Days Parade

and

District 2 Dairy Princess Connie Jones with 1st Alt. Alex Gambonini 2015 Butter & Egg Days Parade

subscribe buttonIf you have not already visited our YouTube Channel you may not know what you are missing.  If you want to be sure not to miss any new videos we post be sure to subscribe to our channel by clicking on the subscribe  button as shown to the right.   We update and share the following playlists, and you can subscribe to any one of them that interests you the most.

2VIDEOS

Petaluma Wine

9VIDEOS

Great Petaluma Chili Cook-Off

7VIDEOS

About Petaluma

7VIDEOS

Petaluma Education & Schools

4VIDEOS PLAY ALL

Petaluma History

6VIDEOS

Petaluma Rides

4VIDEOS

Petaluma Services

Known for its Ugliest Dog, #Petaluma also provides the Cutest Dog for Thanksgiving

thanksgiving-day-2015-3First things first – Happy Thanksgiving to you from Positively Petaluma.  We wish you and your family the very best for the holiday.

#Petaluma’s ugliest dog, Quasi Moto, was worldwide news this year as part of the Sonoma-Marin County Fair.  You can see photos of him and this year’s contest in our article “Breaking News: Quasi Modo winner of the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest!”. Today, not in any contest, a cute dog was spotted in downtown #Petaluma that is getting worldwide attention on a United Kingdom publication DailyMail.com.  This cute pooch was garnering a costume that gave the appearance of a puppet struggling to carry a very large pumpkin.

To celebrate the holiday with some cheer we thought this video was worth sharing:

For the entire article go see Dog goes barking mad for Thanksgiving: Cute pup dons ingenious costume of pilgrims carrying a pumpkin 

#Petaluma Composer ‘Scores’ Big Win at Toronto Film Festival

Jasha Klebe Petaluma Composer Working On ScoreMusic composer, Petaluman Jasha Klebe, is now a success story from our very own Cinnabar Theater. He wrote the music score for a film recently awarded the Peoples Choice Documentary Award in the Toronto Film Fest for ‘Winter on Fire.‘  We tracked him down only to find he was en route to the Ukraine to premiere their film for the embassy there.  He is currently working for the critically acclaimed Netflix documentary, Winter on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight For Freedom. Jasha’s musical upbringing was influenced early in life by his grandfather, Marvin Klebe, founder of Cinnabar Theater and a baritone opera singer who once sang with the San Francisco Opera Company. Following years of classical piano training and trombone in symphonic band, Jasha began his film composing career at Remote Control Productions, where he earned the Winter On Fireopportunity as an additional writer along side Oscar-winning composer, Hans Zimmer, writing on such notable projects as The Dark Knight Rises, Rush, and Captain Phillips. For four years he gained experience working with top artists in the industry, including working with the Grammy Award winning composer Lorne Balfe on several TV shows and video games (The Bible TV series, Assassin’s Creed). Jasha is currently one of the leading composers at Bleeding Fingers Custom Music Shop (a Hans Zimmer and Extreme Music creative partnership) located in Santa Monica, California and works in one of their state-of-the art studios.

CLICK HERE OR PAGE 2 BELOW TO LEARN MORE ABOUT JASHA IN OUR RECENT INTERVIEW


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VIDEO: #Petaluma Star Wars Collection Is Worth Millions Per Forbes Magazine

The following video was released this week that is about Petaluma’s Rancho Obi-Wan.

Forbes YouTube Channel says: “Take a look inside Rancho Obi-Wan in Petaluma, CA, the non-profit museum that houses Steve Sansweet’s record-holding collection of Star Wars merchandise and art.”


#Petaluma’s Heather Mahoney wins WORLD Racquetball Championship!

Coach Jen Meyer Heather, Mahoney and Coach Jody Nance
Coach Jen Meyer Heather, Mahoney and Coach Jody Nance

UPDATE: 11/26/2015: Padecky: Petaluma’s Heather Mahoney has a gold medal and a bright future

Thanks to the work of Brian Dixon who directs the Petaluma Athletic Club’s Junior Racquetball program, two of our young Petaluman junior racquetball players, Heather Mahoney (10U Girls) and James D’Ambrogia (12U Boys) advanced to the World Championships. They were both in the top 2 at the National Junior Racquetball Championships and invited to play on Team USA to and advance to the 2015 Junior World Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. In addition to singles, both Heather and James played doubles.

Heather Maloney Beats Mexico In Tie Breaker In Junior Racquetball World ChampionshipsHeather is now a World Champion after beating Mexico in a tie breaking match today. She is the best 10U girls junior racquetball player in the world!

Congratulations to Heather and James for representing Petaluma well as world class racquetball players and big thanks to Brian Dixon and Heather’s coaches for supporting our world champion.

UPDATE 12/5/2015: VIDEO – 2015 jr World Racquetball Championships – Final, Girls 10 and under