Roundup: Change in the weather
The call of the wild, the Jewish holidays, Sebastopol Ballet's new location, and fallen pines
Change in the weather, change in the weather
Something's happening here
Change in the weather, change in the weather
People walkin' 'round in fear.
- John Fogerty, Change in the Weather (1986)
That weasel was a bookworm
The wild creature inside Many Rivers Books and Tea was the talk of Retrograde patrons next door. A weasel had found a way into the store, probably through the front door, and then was scurrying around bookshelves and counters for a few days. The customers at Retrograde were asking "did they get a ferret at Many Rivers?"
“I was the first person to see it, but with my brief partial view, I thought it was a rat or a mouse,” said Grady Kallenbach, one of the owners. “When Karl (Frederick, the other owner) came in the next day, there was a woman looking in the window. She had recorded a video of it bobbing and weaving as it ran along the shelf in the window.”
Finally, after Karl made several calls, someone from a wildlife organization came to the store and caught the weasel. She said that she would do research to find out if it's a native species and release it in the wild if it was.
“I really enjoyed having this wild visitor,” said Grady. “I kept finding things knocked
over, or keys pressed on the keyboard that prevented me from ringing
people up the normal way — fun evidence of the visitor.”
When I stopped by the shop to talk to Grady and Karl about the weasel, Karl had more news. He was happy to report that Porchfest tripled their business last week. “We needed it,” he said.
Steve Einstein’s Public Service Announcement re the Jewish Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
There are approximately two to three thousand Jews in the West County. For many of them, maybe even half, the upcoming high holidays of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) may not be observed at all. For many of the others, the two holidays are a big deal.
This announcement is meant to alert you to when exactly these holidays fall this year. If you are still scheduling something for those days, you may want to take this into consideration.
Rosh Hashanah will begin on Monday evening, Sept. 22. It is celebrated for two days, but most Jews around here will only mark the day on Tuesday, Sept. 23.
Yom Kippur begins ten days later, starting at sunset on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and lasts until sunset on Thursday, Oct. 2.
These holidays are solemn occasions, when Jews take stock of their own behavior, how they related to each other and to the world in general, and how they may have missed the mark.
This is also a time and opportunity to ask forgiveness of those who may have been wronged, with or without intent. It is also a time of serious introspection, with an eye to improving personal behavior in the year to come.
This year promises to be an especially challenging time of introspection, as Jewish communities try to grapple with the ongoing war in the Middle East that began on October 7th two years ago, the massive suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, the continued hostage crisis, and individual’s relationships to Israel in general.
The reason that these holidays fall on different days each year, is that the Jewish calendar is a lunisolar calendar, combing both lunar and solar cycles, while the Gregorian calendar is purely solar based. Hence, Christmas will fall on Dec. 25 this year, as it usually does, while Rosh Hashanah always begins on the 29th of Elul.
Many local Jews are affiliated with the four synagogues in Santa Rosa and Cotati. Here in the West County, there will be three local opportunities to mark these solemn holidays. All three ceremonies are out of doors.
On Rosh Hashanah morning, Sept. 23, the West County Jewish Community (the combination of the SebJews and the Russian River Jewish Community) will gather in a local park at 10 a.m. For details, contact Gary at gw52749@gmail.com
A new Jewish community has formed this year, Makom Shalom, West Sonoma County Forest Synagogue. Information on their holiday schedule can be found at makomshalom.org.
Yom Kippur is celebrated in Guerneville on the banks of the Russian River by the West County Jewish Community at the close of the holiday on the late afternoon of Oct. 4. Contact information at steve.einstein@gmail.com.
Looking a bit further into the future, Hannukah goes for eight nights from Dec. 14 to Dec. 22, and Super Bowl Sunday is Feb. 8, 2026.
Sebastopol Ballet School on the move
Reader Antony Boyd let us know that Sebastopol Ballet School will be moving to more spacious quarters in a building at the corner of Bodega Ave and Ragle Road, formerly the site of Langermann Health Club. The Sebastopol Ballet School started at the Sebastopol Cultural Community Center in 1991 and then moved in 2011 to their current location on Gravenstein Highway South.
“This beautiful space is such an improvement from their existing location and will allow for all sorts of improvements to their program,” wrote Boyd in an email. “I believe they are hoping to have the building renovated and ready to be moved in before this year’s Nutcracker performance.”
Langermann Health Club has moved to the Redwood Shopping Center.
Deadwood
On Saturday, Sept. 13, a large pine tree at the northwest corner of the Sebastopol Memorial Lawn cemetery fell over on to Bodega Hwy. Both lanes of the road were closed past 10 am in the morning as crews cut up the portion of the tree on the highway. The rest of the fallen tree remains on the edge of the cemetery, near the road quite close to power lines.
Several trees at this same corner have fallen down within the last few months.
Sebastopol Police Logs, September 8-14
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
7:10 p.m. Violation of a court order involving domestic violence (misdemeanor) at Valentine Avenue. Suspect arrested.
TUESDAY
10:22 p.m. Assault with a deadly weapon with force, possibly causing great bodily injury (felony) and disorderly conduct involving alcohol (misdemeanor) at North Main Street. Suspect arrested.
SATURDAY
12:05 p.m. Knowingly receiving stolen property (felony), served with a misdemeanor arrest warrant for an outside agency, and possession of more than 28.5 grams of marijuana and more than 8 grams of concentrated cannabis by someone 18-20 years old at Gravenstein Highway North. Suspect arrested.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 132 events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
The week of Sept. 15-20
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Appreciate Steve's reminder and explanation of the holidays.
I’m very concerned about all of those dead trees and especially the recent one that fell at the corner of the Sebastopol lawn cemetery. I made a call to Steve Lang the property owner of Sebastopol Lawn Cemetery, LLC and I have not received a call back. Many of us who live about 100 feet from this area are we’re very concerned. This dead wood has been there for months. Now the latest tree that fell has created a larger hazard zone. I spoke to the Sebastopol Fire Department one afternoon when their truck was parked nearby. They informed me they did their due diligence in contacting the owner some time ago who allegedly refused to respond. I’m interested to know what the course of action is.