This raw cell phone video shows the SMART Train crossing the Petaluma Bridge for the first time.
This video shows the entire journey including a segment through the downtown Petaluma train station.
You may also be interested in an article in this week’s Petaluma360.com about SMART called SMART offering to give away Haystack Landing bridge over Petaluma River.
For generations Legos are very popular with kids growing up and their legend lives on thanks to Petalumans. Our very first post was a New York Times article about Petaluma’s Kevin Tsujihara Warner Bros. CEO Credits ‘Petaluma’ for His Winning Style & Success” who had recently released “The Lego Movie”. 
In that article he credits his ambassadorial style – “behaving like a human being” is how he put it – reflected his unpretentious upbringing in Petaluma, Calif.” The following video shows a project combining software, legos and robotics to solve a Rubiks Cube! It was a father and son project, one that I am sure the son will remember for a lifetime. It’s simple stuff like this that matters. When we saw this we had to share it.
The video was posted on YouTube by the father who said:
“My six year old son and I decided to build this together. It was our first Mindstorms project and loads of fun.”
“ MindCub3r is a robot that can be built from a single LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 home set or from EV3 Education Core and Expansion sets to solve the well known Rubik’s Cube puzzle. All MindCub3r software releases works with LEGO firmware versions.
Please share your father and son projects in the comments below. Also thanks in advance for sharing this cool project with your friends and family by simply clicking on the Social Media icons below.
Petaluma resident Arthur Wedel, a USMC WWII Veteran, was on the game show the The Price is Right. They released this short video of host Drew Carey calling him up as a contestant on the show. The crowd gave stand-up applause cheering USA! USA! USA! As he approach his game panel he shouts “United States Marine Corp!”
The Price is Right YouTube post says “We’re so proud to have fans like Arthur — a 92-year-old WWII veteran! What an honor to have him in our audience!”
Petaluma is a Purple Heart City and celebrates our veterans in our annual Veterans Day Parade which is the largest parade of its kind north of the golden gate. For more information about that event see our previous post #Petaluma’s Veteran’s Day Parade: Schedule, Highlights, History & Video.
We wish to thank everyone for making the comments they did on our post The #Petaluma McDonalds TV Spot Commercial is Released! We have had nearly 40,000 views of our post with 17 comments. We disagree with any of them that are attacks on the Petaluma Downtown Association (PDA). We agree with many of the comments suggesting we should choose local restaurants who use local ingredients, and I can’t think of a bigger supporter for that than the PDA. I have never seen a post from the PDA suggesting to eat your next meal at McDonalds (its always a local non-franchised restaurant). They do a fantastic job for this city and we are absolutely sure that many of the commentators have enjoyed the great many events the PDA puts on each year that helps to bolster our local economy. Yesterday NBC Bay Area posted an update on the commercial ‘McDonald’s Commercial Featuring Petaluma Sparks Uproar From Residents’. Does this constitute and uproar? In it they show our website as shown in the photo above. They also used our photo for the icon/thumbnail for it. Most important it included what Marie McCusker had to say to respond to the so called “uproar.”
This commercial stirred a healthy discussion and also at the same time gave our city a lot of exposure across the country including our opinions which is very important. Others across the nation know how Petaluman’s feel about the commercial.
We were at this McDonalds location in the last six months. There we met a retired Petaluma man who had lost his wife and was on a fixed income. He told me his wife used to do the cooking and he could not afford to eat at other restaurants. This McDonalds location was in walking distance from his house. He seemed to be enjoying his breakfast. We may not identify McDonalds with Petaluma and it may not be the healthiest choice, but he was as much a Petaluman than anyone we have met.
CLICK PAGE TWO TO SEE THE NBC VIDEO COVERAGE AND THE THE JIM GAFFIGAN’S COMEDY BIT ON McDONALDS.
Our great Petaluma Downtown Association does a good job of attracting and supporting business in our town. You may recall the Argus Courier article McDonald’s Brings Hollywood to North McDowell. This article tells about a commercial McDonalds was filming here that included some Petaluma references. In that article Marie McCusker said “Petaluma is the hometown they want to portray. The commercial will show our location and a Petaluma sign, so you will know it was filmed here.” Well it has arrived. Check it out.
We really like how they describe Petaluma as a quaint town nestled in Northern California. Makes me want an Egg White Delight McMuffin.
On March 9 The Petaluma Downtown Association weighs in on the replies to comments on their facebook page:
ALSO SEE THESE RELATED UPDATES:
Is Any Publicity Good Publicity for #Petaluma? McDonalds Commercial Revisited
“My Petaluma” video copies Petaluma McDonalds’ Commercial
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Photo: Terray Sylvester / The Chronicle
SF GATE (San Francisco Chronicle) has a segment in their business column each Monday called Office Space which gives readers a glimpse inside a Bay Area company. This week they featured Petaluma’s Camelbak. The following content was contributed by their staff writer Julie Balise, a San Francisco Chronicle Staff writer. Also if you missed a previous interview of CamelBak’s CEO on Behind The Brand I have been waiting to post this as well, because we have seen it come up in our searches again this morning. On November 14, 2014 we reported on CamelBak was recognized by GreatLists at one of the healthiest companies to work for in American. In 2013 Outside Magazine listed them in the 100 Best Places To Work.
As suggested by the headline, CamelBak is obsessed with hydration. So much so that their office is laced with water molecules. Their environment also includes “clouds” or sound panels to absorb noise from their open office space. The company also made their office green friendly and by doing so it became a certified Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) building.
Their hallways are like shopping displays showcasing their their best selling products
While their products are manufacturer in Mexico, the design and test them in Petaluma. They have an open lab space so the other employees can see how their how their products work. In the testing area they also have temperature chambers to determine how long water would freeze in their bottles and effects also from heat and pressure.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 FOR MORE INFORMATION AND VIDEO WITH NAIL BITING RIDE BY PRO MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDER MIKE WEIR
We previously interviewed Petaluman David Best who is the architect, artist and builder of the Temple of Grace for the 2014 Burning Man on July 12, 2014 called #Petaluma’s David Best Builds 2014 Burning Man Temple In Petaluma. In that article we later added a video that we included below that shows the construction in Petaluma.
It was not until recently that we found some qualify photos in our Social Media searches by a photographer named Jeff Perkins. We would like to thank him for agreeing to let us use his photos so we could share them with you. So we would like to thank him for sharing his work.
Because they built the structure in pieces in Petaluma, and then shipped and assembled them at the venue, not many were able to see the finished product unless you attended the event. So here is a small picture gallery for you.
In case you missed it, here is a video we posted before showing the construction project in Petaluma.
UPDATE The Argus Courier, Petaluma360.com just released an article on Minna, Young wizard on four wheels, By William Rohrs.
Our original article from March 5th.
From and article in the East Bay Express this morning: In 2013, Minna Stess became the first girl to win the California Amateur Skateboard League (CASL) series in its thirty-plus-year history. She has also won first place in the NorCal competition for street skateboarding, and second place in CASL’s State Championships.
In 2014, Stess made history again at the national King of the Groms contest in Minneapolis by becoming the first girl to win an event (beginner mini ramp), to win an ATV award (all terrain vehicle/best all around), to make the finals in three events (street, mini ramp, bowl), and to make the top five in street skating. And this year, she placed third in the Vans Girls Combi Pool Classic (a World Cup Skateboarding event). She has multiple sponsors — including BrokinBonz Clothing, Lakai Limited Footwear, Theeve Trucks, Silly Girl Skateboards, Sonoma Old School SkateShop, and Girl Is Not A 4 Letter Word, a brand by one of the original pro girl skaters, Cindy Whitehead — plus thousands of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook fans.
Minna Stess is eight years old.
And she is one of the many impressive young (and less young) women in the Bay Area who are changing the sport of skateboarding for the better, and inspiring countless others along the way.
Great article Anna Pully! To see the rest of this article go to These Female Skateboarders Are Changing the Sport for the Better | East Bay Express.
CLICK PAGE TWO TO SEE SHORT VIDEO OF MINNA MAKING HISTORY AS THE YOUNGEST SKATEBOARDER EVER TO DROP INTO A MEGA RAMP
Last year Laurie Figone, born and raised on a ranch just outside of Petaluma, was declared the 2014 World Dessert Champion. In the last five years Figone has made a name for herself in the cooking world, where she shows her Petaluma pride by using local products. Figone has also been on the NBC TODAY Show and on TNT with Emeril Lagasse and Ty Pennington. For more information on that see our previous posts about Laurie VIDEO UPDATE: #Petaluma’s Laurie Figone gets her shot on the big screen on TNT’s “On The Menu” and VIDEO: #Petaluma’s Laurie Figone Appears on Good Day Sacramento.
Growing up on a ranch and having large weekly family dinners with at least 30 people gave Figone a passion for cooking and food. Figone speaks fondly about these dinners saying, “My grandmother loved doing all the cooking … I, growing up, wanted to be down at the barn feeding calves but my mother kept me in the house. I hated it at the time but now I have to say I thank her because … I’ve just won another World Championship with my cooking and I never imagined any of this, truthfully.”
Figone’s professional cooking started five years ago when a neighbor helped her realize her talent. Figone was baking focaccia bread for one of her neighbors to take to work and soon her neighbor’s coworkers were requesting and buying Figone’s focaccia. Figone then secretly submitted her focaccia recipe to Taste of Home’s recipe contest and won. It was her first published recipe and the start of her cooking career.
The next step for Figone was participating in her first live cooking competition at the Gilroy Garlic Festival where she, again, won. From there things took off and she went on the NBC TODAY Show for their burger battle and to the Annual Bob’s Red Mill Spar for the Spurtle where she won and was sent to Scotland for the Annual World Porridge Making 
Championship. In the last year Figone was on TNT’s reality show On the Menu with Emeril Lagasse and Ty Pennington.
CLICK HERE OR PAGE 2 BELOW TO GET LAURIE’S ST. PATRICK’S DAY BAKED CORNED BEEF WITH A KICK RECIPE AND VIDEOS
What does NewCo do? According to their website, they help you engage with the people behind innovative businesses in their native environment. You visit companies not stuffy hotel ballrooms which gets you inside to see the engines driving real change in your city. See more about the company at the end of this post.
Also see TechCrunch article, NewCo, John Battelle’s Event Startup, Raises $1.7M From Obvious, True Ventures And More by Ingrid Lunden. Also see Newco’s website blog post Newco Announces Seed Financing by JBAT
The founders tweeted this out in the last week:
Big day @NewCoFest announcing seed financing from some amazing partners to take our format to the next level. Thank you!
— Brian Monahan (@brionic) February 19, 2015
NewCo Announces Seed Financing http://t.co/yUxmcq68pi #newco
— John Battelle (@johnbattelle) February 18, 2015
Backers included institutional investors Obvious Ventures, True Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Transmedia Capital, Freestyle Capital, and Foundry Fund, as well as angels Chris Albinson, Andrew Anker, Bart Knaggs, Michael Lazerow, Dave Morgan, Dave Morin, Jordan Shlain, Owen Van Natta, and Michael Winnick.
The company intends to use the funds to expand its staff, build the technology platform, and create new products.
CLICK PAGE TWO BELOW TO SEE THE SHORT VIDEO ABOUT THIS NEW AND GROWING COMPANY