Roundup: Here's Looking Up
See a 35% partial eclipse on Monday, Irish Spring Concert on Tuesday, and a Spring Tour of local farms in May and a popup village for futurists in June
How many of you who have left town, going to Texas, New Mexico or Mexico, New York or Tennessee to see the total eclipse on Monday? For those of us left behind, we’ll have to be satisfied with seeing a partial eclipse (about 35%), which will happen a little after 11 a.m on Monday. The sky should be clear.
You do need special glasses to look directly at the sun during the eclipse.
If you did travel to see the eclipse, can you share your trip with us? Please send us your story (sebastopoltimes@gmail.com).
Irish Spring Concert and SCCC Benefit
The Walker Creek Music Camp has organized an Irish Spring concert for Tuesday, April 9 at 7pm. It is also a fundraiser for the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center, where the event will be held. Tickets are $30 in advance.
The Irish Spring concert features the following performers:
The Black Brothers
Shay & Michael Black w/Darcy Noonan
with guest artists
Liz Knowles
Marla Fibish
Eamon O’Leary
Dave Cory
Steve Baughman
For more information and to buy tickets, go here.
“Inflamed” Book Honored
Co-author of Inflamed, Anne Belden posted on Facebook: “We are so honored to receive the 2023 Book Award from Investigative Reporters & Editors, and we hope this honor will help to spread the many lessons of "Inflamed" across the country.”
The judges commented:
The book combined strong investigative journalism with captivating literary journalism, engaging the reader with strong storytelling. The authors included vivid descriptions of the subjects’ lives that helped the reader feel invested in the subjects. The authors also used local journalists to help tell the story and placed us at the center of some of the intense moments, like when a resident admonished her adult daughter for “dropping the f-bomb” as fire loomed outside and they were trying to escape. The book lets journalism do the talking.
See our story from last December on “Inflamed: Abandonment, Heroism and Outrage in Wine Country’s Deadliest Firestorm” by Anne Belden and Paul Gullixson with contributing author/editor Lauren A. Spates.
Check out the full list of all IRE awards, which recognized different forms of investigative journalism.
Farm Trails Spring Tour Coming in May
Sonoma County Farm Trails has announced its spring tour, which welcomes the public to visit farms, ranches, creameries, ag facilities, and foodie hot-spots during the annual Blossoms, Bees & Barnyard Babies Spring Tour on Saturday & Sunday, May 4 & 5.
The spring tour will offer experiences such as:
Take a cheesemaking tour at Bohemian Creamery
Cuddle with baby goats at Redwood Hill Farm – Capracopia
Stroll the lavender labyrinth and pollinator gardens at Bees N Blooms
Pick berries and flowers at Cassidy Ranch
Get up close to the cute baby lambs at Sonoma County Valais
Play with baby bunnies at Garden Valley Ranch
Take an orchard tour and sip apple brandy at Ambix Spirits
Meet rescued animals and go on a scavenger hunt at Goatlandia
Go on an educational farm tour at Singing Frogs Farm
Throw a lasso and learn about raising cattle at Marin Coast Ranch
Sample apple treats at the organic orchard of Laura’s Apples
Stock up on plants starts and take a yoga class at Flatbed Farm
Shop for farm-fresh organic produce at Sonoma Garden Park
Watch a soap-making demo at Soap Cauldron
Shop for a picnic and enjoy live music at Penngrove Market
For more details and to register online, visit FarmTrails.org. Registration is free but required.
Healdsburg to host pop-up village for “futurists” in June
According to the Healdsburg Tribune, the city will be the host of a pop-up village that will be a “gathering for people building the future.”
150-plus Bay Area techies and other thought leaders from across the globe are being invited by two outside organizations—Edge City and the Esmeralda Land Company—to become the “full-time residents” of an ambitious, monthlong “popup village” here in town, from June 2-30. Hundreds more short-term visitors are invited to stop by as well.
— Story by Simone Wilson in Healdsburg Tribune
Great Redwood Trail Master Plan Draft Released
The Great Redwood Trail Agency released a draft of a Master Plan for the 231 miles of trail following now-abandoned railway lines within Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties. The trail is expected to be connected to Sonoma County alongside the SmartTrain railways.
The Great Redwood Trail would be an amazing recreational resource and it is expected to bring tourism dollars to struggling Northern California counties in the future.
“I would put it in the category of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail — these large, landscape-scale trails that provide an experience for people to see areas that they just would never have access to otherwise,” said Caryl Hart, chair of the California Coastal Commission and board member of the Great Redwood Trail Agency, which is tasked with developing the path.
The week of March 30-April 6
The Sebastopol Times has 717 paid subscribers; we have a 92% retention rate for annual subscribers. We reach 2,885 total subscribers and more people see our stories through social media. Vesta Copestakes writes: "I keep sharing your articles on social media. I might as well help you survive and encourage others to pay as well - so I add the link to pay. THANK YOU! Your articles on the high school are especially helpful out here in Far West County"