News Archives - Page 28 of 36 - Positively Petaluma

Thirst for craft beer drives expansion at Sonoma

                    Photo By Crista Jeremiason / The Press Democrat

In a Press Democrat article today, it appears there is plenty of demand for craft beer in Sonoma County. Being local we often take for granted of how plentiful craft beer is our area and with so many excellent choices it’s like Christmas all year round. So no wonder we are driving expansion – we have become craft beer snobs. We have Lagunitas Brewing Company, Russian River Brewing Company, Hen House, Petaluma Hills, 101 North, Bear Republic just to name a few.

This article interviews Tony Magee, founder and owner of Lagunitas Brewing Co. in Petaluma, and he shares how he intends to play a leading role in this expansion. More great craft beers in Sonoma? You had me at hello.

via Thirst for craft beer drives expansion at Sonoma | The Press Democrat.

Second Look Sunday: A Positively Petaluma Weeks In Review

There are lots of great things going on in #Petaluma, you just have to dig for them. We search for and collects the positive information about our great city in one place: The Petaluma Magazine. The Second Look will be a reflection of some of the posts from the previous weeks.

1000’s are enjoying their free subscription with thousands of positive articles including these most recent posts from previous weeks:

Petaluma Celebrates the Centennial of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Petaluma’s Alex Tanalski California State Chili Champ

Barich works her way up the cross country ranks

Record-breaking season for the Case Grande HS X-country team

$6 million makeover for Petaluma school

Petaluma’s First Firefighter James Mott Not Forgotten

Petaluma Coastguardsman Honored for Bravery

A motorcycle crew with a heart of gold

“Save Lives Sonoma” helps 13-year Old Lewis Save The Life Of His Father with CPR

Award-Winning Pacific Empire Chorus Celebrates 50^th Anniversary

Fleet week with the crew of the Sea Scout Ship Compass Rose

Trojans bounce back for happy homecoming

Rich history of river celebrated in Petaluma

Petaluma Racer not yet out of gas

Petaluma’s Labcon bringing new energy to North Bay

Video Petaluma Casa Grande Matt Abramo: A Bright Light In A Dark Room

From Marketing Executive to Petaluma Farmer: Deborah Walton created Canvas Ranch

Dead Pirates Roberts Day with Actor Cary Elwes

Other posts can be found on in our archives. Thanks also for “Like”ing us on Facebook and following us on Twitter.

#Petaluma Celebrates the Centennial of Northwestern Pacific Railroad

Trains were a big factor in our local economy and industry. The fact that we have a Northwestern Pacific Railroad Museum and Historical Society is because Petaluma would not be the town that it is today without the rail system. Positively Petaluma did a little digging into the history and wanted to show you some vintage photos of the train history in Petaluma.

Here are some photographs we found in the Sonoma County Historical Archives.

Our historical Petaluma Visitor Center and art center is the original train depot and in the past has served as the center of our city’s transportation since 1914. In 1991 it was featured in a made for TV Hitchcock thriller in 1991. Today it will become a depot for the new Sonoma Marin Rail Transit Commission (SMART) train system.

Here are historical photos of our Petaluma Depot.

Pages: 12

#Petaluma’s First Firefighter James Mott Not Forgotten

You may have seen some of the posts on James Mott and his memorial on October 23. This led me to do a little more research on him.The first firefighter in Petaluma was 1873 but at that time there were no city employees and only volunteers. James Mott was the first paid Petaluma firefighter for our city starting 1807 and became a part of the YOUNG AMERICA ENGINE COMPANY NO. 3, PETALUMA FIRE DEPARTMENT. He was also the city jailer and ambulance driver well-known for his special bond with his horse Black Bart. He is also the first Petaluma firefighter making the ultimate sacrifice while fighting a fire in the downtown who lost his life in the line of duty in a vehicle explosion on October 20,1912. His life would end a few days later at the age of 57.

You can click on the photo of the newspaper to read the article of the story in the San Francisco Call. I had not seen it mentioned anywhere else, but the Mayor of Petaluma, William H. Zartman, at that time also served as a volunteer firefighter and he was badly burned in this fire. Additionally a former Petaluma Fire Chief Henry J. Myers working as a volunteer had both ears burned off. The article indicates Mott inhaled flames from the fire. The force of the blast was taken directly by James Mott burning him severely. Despite being burned firefighter Mott assisted the injured bystanders to safety and helped extinguish the intense fire. This newspaper reported that over 25 people were seriously burned as a result of this explosion and fire.

Pages: 123

Positively #Petaluma Interview With Actor Adrian Grenier

An August 23 Facebook post by Adrian Grenier caused a big stir in Petaluma. His post garnered over 1000 “Likes” and several comments and shares by Petalumans. His status showed him with friends at our annual Taste of Petaluma with comment “Rockin’ #TasteOfPetaluma w/@catatomic @rbcsavage awesome delicious day”. This caused Positively Petaluma to want to find out more and share his experience here.

Post by Adrian Grenier.

Adrian Grenier visited our town and attended our annual event while visiting family friends. The following interview was completed while Adrian was in Greece and would not have been possible without the help of Laura Sunday who hosted Adrian during his stay in Petaluma. Adrian is an actor, producer, director and musician most notable playing the lead role of Vincent Chase in the Emmy nominated HBO original series Entourage. In this interview Adrian tells us about his experience here in Petaluma and a documentary he is working on.

Wayne: You played the role of Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend Nate who was a chef in the movie Devil Wears Prada. Petaluma has a lot of talented chefs and has quickly become a culinary destination according to a recent KRON 4 and Yelp report. You had the opportunity to experience our Taste of Petaluma. Which part of the culinary and craft spirits experience did you like best? Food, beer or the wine?

Adrian: All three. I love a festival that celebrates locally grown goods. But it’s not all about the food, if it was we’d all be shuffling around eating silently. An event like this is all about friends coming together. Food is a big part of my life. My mother has a great devotion to good tasting things. I like to think I surround myself with people who care about what they eat. It makes life more enjoyable.

Pages: 123

Video #Petaluma Casa Grande Matt Abramo: A Bright Light in A Dark Room

As reported by Britton Ransford on WazzuWatch.com Publisher on Commit Stat Tracker on October 14, 2014:

Casa Grande High School picked up their first win of the season last week and the Cougars’ two-star kicker commit was a big part of it. In the 47-0 shellacking of Ukiah, Abramo nailed both of his field goal attempts – with a long of 46-yards – and was 3-of-3 on point after attempts. Abramo punted once for 53 yards and sent six of his eight kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

For the season, Abramo is 7-of-7 on Points After Touchdown (PATs) and 4-of-5 on field goals with a long of 46-yards. Abramo has also hit a 45-yard field goal this season and is averaging 34.2 yards per punt with 11 pinned down inside the 20 on 31 attempts. Abramo has also sent 14-of-19 kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

Last week: A week of rest didn’t help Casa Grande on Friday night as they saw their record drop to 0-5 after a tough 27-7 loss to Windsor last week. Abramo was 1-for-1 on point after attempts and did not attempt a field goal. He did, however, pin two of his six punts inside the Windsor 20 yard line – with a long of 47 yards – and averaged 34.2 yards per punt. Both of Abramo’s kickoffs were touchbacks.

Here is some of his most recent footage as provided on hudl.com.

“Save Lives Sonoma” helps 13-Year Old Lewis Save The Life Of His Father with CPR

                    Photo Kent Porter, Press Democrat, 2014

According to an Press Democrat Article “Forestville teen saves dad’s life“ and EMS1’s based on the same Randi Rossman Press story “Calif. teen’s CPR saves father, impresses responders“, Lewis Griffith, a 13-year old from Forestville, learned how to save his father’s life in a P.E. class at Forestville Academy. This education was part of a countywide effort by a coalition of emergency responders and health agencies called Save Lives Sonoma. They target and teach seventh-graders hands-on CPR. According to the article his father slumped unconscious and not breathing on the kitchen floor, and Lewis announced to his startled mother he knew what to do. Firefighters arrived on the scene with the teen working on his father on his own.

The article provides background from #Petaluma’s Fire Battalion Chief Jeff Schach who adds “The reason we picked seventh-graders is they’re smart enough to learn it and teach it to the rest of their family and friends and they’re not too cool for it yet,” Schach, who coordinates Petaluma Fire Department’s efforts with Save Lives Sonoma, said about 2,000 people in the south county have been taught, including hundreds of middle-schoolers. Hundreds more area students are slated to get the training in the next several months. “We’re already seeing results,” Schach said, noting five people have been saved by someone stepping up to do the chest compressions in the past two years. “There’s been a drastic increase in the amount of bystanders doing (hands-only) CPR.”

Here is a video from the Save Lives Sonoma YouTube page released about 4 months ago.

It’s Free & Takes 2 Seconds To Improve #Petaluma. How?

How you ask? Here’s the background as reported yesterday in the Sonoma County Southern Life.

Petaluma entrepreneur Anastasia Schuster helps entrepreneurs and small businesses be more successful. By putting them in front of groups to share their passion and expertise, they are able to build their client base.

This is a woman with a dream. Anastasia gives back to her community in addition to her Access Speakers business activities, through an extra-wide range of volunteer activities throughout the year. Now she needs our help.

She has applied for a $150,000 small business grant being offered by Chase bank. “Receiving this would change my life as well as all the people and businesses I serve,” says Anastasia, who must receive 250 votes before Oct 17th to be considered for the grant that would fund software and vital staff hiring in order for her to expand her Petaluma-based business nationwide.

So how can you help Petaluma by a few seconds of your time and one click of the mouse? Click here to vote for her on Chase Bank’s Mission Main Street Grants page.

From Marketing Executive to #Petaluma Farmer: Deborah Walton created Canvas Ranch

When you hear about the Walton’s on a ranch, you can’t help to think about the American Television show ‘The Little House on The Prairie.’ But these Walton’s are not from Spencer’s Mountain or Simi Valley. Deborah is a native to Mill Valley who replanted with husband Tim, an artist, in the Two Rock Valley.

I had the pleasure of meeting Deborah at Graffiti Restaurant one night while listening to Peter Welker’s Jazz Sextet on the Petaluma Riverfront. Deborah is a former marketing executive for Santa Rosa Junior College and Bodega Land Trust. Besides ranching she still helps a non-profit Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Santa Rosa with marketing communications.

One way she creates luck for herself is to read the classified ads (today for her it is craigslist). She found a three line ad with a piece of property on it…and she said “Oh my god, it’s actually affordable and it was right around the corner from where we were currently renting” Tim was in New York at the time and she called him up and said “Hi honey. I bought a farm.”

Pages: 123

Second Look Sunday: A Positively Petaluma Weeks In Review

There are lots of great things going on in #Petaluma, you just have to dig for them. Positively Petaluma searches for and collects the positive information about our great city in one place: The Petaluma Magazine. The Second Look is a reflection of some of the posts from the previous weeks.

With over a 1000 readers enjoying their free subscription enjoying current and past positive news stories the following is are highlights from the past few weeks:

Mustangs Pull Away From Calistoga

UPDATE OMG Video: #Petaluma’s James Kelly Video Makes Huffington Post

Passionate Farmers Feed Your Soul at Muleheart Farm

A Sport of Pain and Beauty; North Bay Rowing Club

#Petaluma’s Laurie Figone Gets Her Shot On The Big Screen

#Petaluma’s Solairus Aviation Grows

Demand Soars for Organic Milk #Petaluma Dairies Trying to Keep Up

USET Foundation Awards Jacqueline B. Mars Training Grant to #Petaluma’s Matthew Brown

#Petaluma’s GC Micro Lands NASA Contract Award for 10 Years, $20 Billion Maximum

INTERVIEW: #Petaluma’s Pamela Aares Releases New Book AIM FOR LOVE

Adam Babendir LoveMyLife Interviews ‘The Random Artist’ George Utrilla

HWY 101 “Pumpkin Patch Traffic Jam Ale” at Petaluma Hills Brewery