What’s Going On In #Petaluma? Week of March 22

Cheese9th Annual Artisan Cheese Festival – Mar. 20-22: Explore & learn about hand-crafted cheese & more. Tickets available at: . Held at the Petaluma Sheraton, 745 Baywood Drive.  For March 22, 9:30 am -12:00pm Cooking Demo and Brunch and 12:00pm – 4:00 pm Artisan Cheese Tasting and Marketplace (Grand Tasting Tent, Sheraton – Sonoma County)

Comrades-and-Chicken-Ranchers “A Home on the Range: The Jewish Chicken Ranchers of Petaluma” – Sat. Mar. 21, 3pm: Screening of local film by Bonnie Burt. Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 Fourth St.   778-4398.

Improve your Luck Workshop – Sun., Mar. 22, 10 –Noon: Includes materials & refreshments. For more information visit: www.artfularrangements.com

Boating at the Barn – Sundays, 10am-1pm: Pick a rowboat, canoe, kayak or sailboat. River Heritage Center in Steamer Landing Park. Call 769-0910 for information.

Portuguese Heritage Celebration – Sun., Mar. 22, 2:30pm: A festive afternoon of history, customs, dance, music, food & more. Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 Fourth St. www.petalumamuseum.com  778-4398.

Mentor Me Mad Hatters BallEast-Side Farmers’ Market – Tuesdays, 10am-1:30pm: Year-round, rain or shine! In the Petaluma Community Center Parking Lot, 320 N. McDowell Blvd. For info call 415-999-5635.

Petaluma Garden Club Plant Sale – Sat., Mar. 28, 9am-1pm: at 488 Casa Verde Circle. Call for details: 762-4148.

10th Annual Mad Hatter Ball – Sat., Mar. 28, 5:30pm: Dinner, dessert, wine room, beer garden, dancing to The Grooveline, silent & live auctions & hat contest! Cavanaugh Recreation Center, 426 8th St. 778-4798 www.mentormepetaluma.org

Petaluma Author Reading: ‘The Gentleman Bat’ and ‘Too Many Tables’ by Abraham Schroeder

Don’t miss the reading of The Gentleman Bat and Too Many Tables by Abraham Schroeder.

Petaluma Regional LibrarySaturday, April 4, 2015 – 2:00pm

Petaluma, CA 94952

Local author Abraham Schroeder will be reading from his first children’s book, The Gentleman Bat, followed by a discussion of bats and some of the hidden details in and inspiration for the book.

Enjoy the story and beautiful watercolor paintings, filled with fun details in a Victorian setting, with an ever-so-slight slight dusting of steampunk.

Too Many Tables By Abraham Schroeder
Too Many Tables By Abraham Schroeder

There will also be a sneak preview reading of Abraham’s second book, Too Many Tables, which will be in bookstores April 28th. However, for this special event, Copperfield’s Books will have BOTH books for sale, and available to be signed by the author at the event.

The target age range for the event is around 3-10, but children and adults of all ages will enjoy the story and beautiful watercolor paintings.

More information about the book can be found at http://www.TheGentlemanBat.com.

More information about the event can be found at http://sonomalibrary.org/events/2015-04-04/local-author-visit-ages-3-10

Petaluma Author Abraham SchroederAbraham Schroeder is an artist, designer, and writer, currently living in Petaluma, California with his wife and son, after residing in a dozen other places, including Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Minnesota, Alaska, and Japan. He worked for 7 years in the Asian Art Department at the Museum of Fine Arts, and during that time managed a massive 5-year project to catalog, digitize, and rehouse the MFA’s spectacular collection of 50,000+ Japanese prints. An 1880’s woodblock print of bats by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi in the MFA collection was the seed of inspiration for his first published children’s book, The Gentleman Bat, which tells a heartwarming story in rhyme, and features gorgeous watercolor and ink paintings by Piotr Parda.His second book, Too Many Tables, also from Ripple Grove Press, is a silly and comical story with fun, colorful illustrations by Micah Chambers-Goldberg. It will be available early 2015.

VIDEO: World War II Vet, #Petaluma’s Arthur Wedel, On The Price Is Right Show

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. 

#Petaluma’s CamelBak® chooses Yingo Yango to power its extensive health & wellness program

CamelBak's Cafeteria, Photo by Terray Sylvester / The Chronicle
CamelBak’s Cafeteria, Photo by Terray Sylvester / The Chronicle

Yingo Yango, a white-label mobile platform for care management and health & wellness program delivery, announced today a new relationship with CamelBak, the world’s leader in hydration products, headquartered in Petaluma, California. CamelBak will use Yingo Yango to power its employee health & wellness program, “Bak to Health,” for all mobile devices, making it more interactive and engaging on a real-time basis.  See also our post just a few weeks ago on Camelbak Water, water everywhere! An Inside Look at CamelBak in #Petaluma

Richard Braddock, Yingo Yango’s Chairman, says: “CamelBak and Yingo Yango share the goal of using simple technology to bring content and data together in ways that are intuitive to the user and repeatedly actionable. Yingo Yango is a customer-centric, disease-focused platform—interoperable and consistent with the evolution of healthcare. We are proud to support CamelBak as they bring the best in healthcare solutions to their employees. Together we will ensure smarter actions and healthier outcomes.”

camelbak best places to workGiven its innovative and outdoors-friendly culture, Camelbak has long been recognized as an exceptional place to work. When it comes to employee wellbeing, the founders of the “Hydration Revolution” have thought of nearly everything, from a fully stocked fitness facility with on-site trainers and healthy snack stations to a fleet of bikes that can be taken to a nearby park. Yet CamelBak recognizes that perks are just one piece of ensuring positive health and morale and are looking to do a lot more for their employees this year with the help of Yingo Yango’s platform.

“Our Bak to Health program is about building a community within our company,” explains Trevor Cherr, HR Analyst at CamelBak. “Yingo Yango makes custom deployment of challenges, communication, individual goal setting and other engaging programming really easy. It’s our brand and our schedule, pushed out to our very own app on every employee’s smartphone. Yingo Yango provides the flexible and customizable technology we need to easily deliver our resources how we want.”

For more information see more via PR Newswire

“I Drink Beer For A Living”: An Interview with Petaluma’s Ken Weaver

President & Publisher Chris Rice "All About Beer"
President & Publisher Chris Rice “All About Beer”

Ken Weaver was recently named editor at ‘All About Beer’ Magazine. All About Beer president & publisher Chris Rice said “Ken has his finger on the pulse of today’s beer releases,” and Weaver admits he’s tasted many versions of the sudsy beverage.

Before he earned an MFA in creative writing from the University of Maryland, Weaver earned an undergraduate degree in physics from Carnegie-Mellon and then a master’s in physics from Cornell University. It’s at Cornell where Ken met his wife, a Nicasio native, Anneliese Schmidt.

According to their website:

Ken-Weaver-BIOWeaver, who is based in Petaluma, CA, previously served as editor in chief of RateBeer Weekly. He also serves as a regular contributor to FSR Magazine, focusing on improving beer’s presence in the full-service restaurant industry; columnist and reviewer for the Rare Beer Club; and publisher of his beer release newsletter 3 Beer Island. His first book, The Northern California Craft Beer Guide, was named a finalist for an NCIBA Book of the Year Award. In 2013, Weaver earned first-place honors in the North American Guild of Beer Writers’ (earned a total of 3 awards from the NAGB) contest in the Best Beer and Food Writing category.

Petaluma Craft GuildPetaluma (and Sonoma County) is fast becoming a player in the craft brew industry with companies like Lagunitas, Petaluma Hills, 101 North, Hen House, and Dempseys.  Petaluma also has its own wine and spirits association called the Petaluma Craft Guild.  They are brewers, distillers & vintners of Petaluma who come together to promote the craft spirit of the city. Each year Petaluma is host to the Petaluma River Craft Beer Festival (mark your calendars for this year its on September 12, 2015).  Also Petaluma will host its 1st annual Sonoma County Home Brewer’s Competition (so keep your eyes open for potential new talent coming our way) and that will be held on May 23rd at the Veterans Memorial Building. So naturally after we learned that Ken became editor of a national beer magazine, we had to learn more. We thought you would like to as well so here is what Ken had to say:

CLICK PAGE 2 TO READ THE INTERVIEW

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

Second Look Sunday: A Positively Petaluma Weeks In Review

Over the last few weeks many of the stories below were created by us, or scattered over several different media and social media sources.  The Petaluma Magazine was created to collect them all in one place with easy navigation either by a click of a mouse or swipe of your finger on your smart devices.  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 highlights from the last few weeks:

Other posts can be found on our home page.  Also check out the sidebar Categories, Archives and Tag Cloud. Thanks also for “Like”ing us on Facebook and following us on Twitter. Thank you for following, recommending and sharing this post and website.

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Don’t Miss Petaluma’s 2nd Saturday Art Walks March 14 from 5-8PM

From The Petaluma Downtown Association Website:

The Petaluma Downtown Galleries host Art Walks with extended hours and a fantastic spectrum of special events every Second Saturday of the month from 5 – 8 pm.  The Petaluma Downtown galleries represent dozens of master artists and emerging sensations and present an excellent opportunity to find that unique piece of art while taking in the heart of downtown.  Shoppers are sure to find a wonderful variety of art, entertainment and fun.

Here is a list of the participating galleries (Click on Gallery Logo to direct to their website/In red under logo is the focus or theme of their special event/Click on address for Google Maps):

Gallery One Logo

Nature

Featured Artists:  Debbie Harding, Elizabeth Perkins, Peggy Sebera, Joanne Tepper

Artist Reception/Art Walk Time: 5:00 – 8:00pm Exhibit:  March 10 – May 3

209 Western Ave, 707-778-8277.

Griffin Map Design

Ladies Night

A collection of recent works from 14 local female artists.

February 28th – March 28th

Closing Reception March 28th 6-10pm

Open most Saturdays 11-5pm and 2nd Saturdays until 8pm

405 East D Street, Suite D 707-347-9009.

ice_house_logo

Birds

March 14th – April 11th

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 14 5:30 – 8pm

Dick Cole, Sylvia Gonzalez, Diana Majumdar, Robert Poplack, Michele Rosett, Stephanie Sanchez and Joanne Tepper share their interpretations of Birds in various media.

405 East D Street, Suite B, 707-778-2238.

Petaluma Arts Center

Petaluma Arts Center Art Shapes The World

Art Shapes the World: Youth Art Exhibit

March 14th – April 5th

Curated by Kate Blakeslee

Reception March 14, 4 – 8pm

230 Lakeville St, Petaluma, CA 94952 (707) 762-5600

Prince gallery_logo

No Filter

A group photography show curated by Kat Louis March 4th through March 29th

Artist’s Reception Saturday, March 14th from 6 – 9pm

122 American Alley, Unit A (Putnam Plaza), 707-889-0371.

River Front Art Gallery

Showin’ on the River

Juried Photography Show

Opening: Wednesday, March 11th, 2015

Reception and 2nd Saturday Artwalk Saturday, March 14th, 2015 from 5 – 9pm

132 Petaluma Boulevard North, Petaluma, California (707) 775-4ART (775-4278)

Is Any Publicity Good Publicity for #Petaluma? McDonalds Commercial Revisited

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.

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Stand Tall For Kids With Type 1 (Juvenile) Diabetes At Lagunitis March 10

Turn really good beer into money for a good cause

This program directly supports kids from Petaluma.  A mother of a son afflicted with this disease told me this:

“That summer he attended the camp for T1D kids put on by the Diabetes Youth Foundation. It was an amazing experience for him and of GREAT value to kids and their families. In fact, he went with [her friends]’s son who was a regular at this camp.”

Diabetes Youth Families Fundraiser is an event created by the Bisgaard Family and supported by many. The DYF has been an integral part of our lives in living with type 1 diabetes and we want to invite our family and friends to a funfilled night to raise money exclusively for the DYF. Most of the proceeds help fund Bearskin Meadow Camp where kids and families learn and are supported in their diabetes management in a magical way.

Lagunitas Brewery graciously has donated the facility and all beer proceeds will benefit DYF. We also have an exciting youth band WJMTheBand who donate their dynamic music for social causes. And wow these kids are cool.  Check out their video from their website.

They played at the UCSF Light it Up Ceremony in addition to The World Series at AT& T park. Dinner will be provided by the Pasta King. The event will include door prizes, raffle for baskets and silent auction items. Please join us or donate here. Click here for online tickets are $25/$30 at the door (under 5 are free).  There is a note on this site to keep it kid friendly they are only charging $15 for kids 5-12 years old.

Post by Lagunitas TapRoom & Beer Sanctuary.

The #Petaluma McDonalds TV Spot Commercial is Released!

Petaluma McDonalds CommercialOur 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:

Petaluma Downtown Association Facebook Reply

 

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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