Tag: Petaluma

#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.downloadThe 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.

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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.

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Positively #Petaluma Interview With Actor Adrian Grenier

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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.

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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:

Matt Abramo
Matt Abramo

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.

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.

9-27-2014 Best LR-9I 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.”

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VIDEO UPDATE: #Petaluma’s Laurie Figone gets her shot on the big screen on TNT’s “On The Menu”

                            Photo Courtesy of TNT

Update 10/12/2014:  YouTube video Cooking With Laurie Figone at the 2014 Sonoma County Fair on September 1, 2014; In the first six and a half minutes of this video Laurie tells the story how she came to be on television and the amazing story on how she chose the music for her show and met country western talent Pete Stringfellow, with records like Pole Dance and titles such as It Ain’t Nothin.

 

This self-proclaimed “cook-a-holic” is a native of Novato and currently resides in Petaluma. Joe Wolfcale of the Novato Advance interviews Laurie Figone a 55-year-old mother of two whose first show “On The Menu” (a cooking show featuring Ty Pennington and chef Emeril Lagasse) will air for the first time Friday, Oct. 17 beginning at 8 p.m. on TNT and will feature the cuisine of California Pizza Kitchen.

Growing up on the Leveroni Brothers Dairy ranch in rural Novato, she studied agriculture at Petaluma High School. She is a proponent of using locally sourced ingredients from Sonoma and Marin County. In the interview she says “There are some delicious things being grown around these parts,” She also goes on to say “My dream is to one day have a sponsor for my show,” Figone said. “Everyone loves Sonoma and Marin, and they all want to know what’s being produced there.”

Click here for the entire interview.

Adam Babendir LoveMyLife Interviews ‘The Random Artist’ George Utrilla

George Utrilla - The Random Artist at Zodiacs for 2014 Taste of Petaluma
George Utrilla – The Random Artist at Zodiacs for 2014 Taste of Petaluma

Positively Petaluma is always looking for positive things going on in our town. Today we ran into an interview by Adam Babendir who has a presence on Facebook LoveMyLife.info . It’s his mission to inspire and motivate as many people, on a daily basis, to take action on ALL the things that make them LOVE life! Well I can’t think of anything more positive than that. But what does that have to do with Petaluma? Adam interviewed someone that has been on our radar for some time. George Utrilla The Random Artist. I met George at Zodiacs during the Taste of Petaluma. George was wearing a shirt sporting the 707. I told him he should reproduce and sell them.

Originally from Lima, Peru, George came to the U.S. at the age of 12 and graduated from Terra Linda High School.  He eventually moved to Petaluma which he now calls home for his family. He has been passionate about art work for most of his life. It’s his desire to have his own Gallery in Petaluma which he calls his “home base”.

Stage view of crowd at California Roots Festival
Stage view of crowd at California Roots Festival
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