Roundup: Making a splash
Tesla protest in Sebastopol, food fest, important guests at SDFF, and Rotary's annual plea for volunteer swim teachers
Tesla Takedown in Sebastopol
More than a hundred folks showed up to the Tesla Takedown event at the Tesla charging station in the Lucky’s parking lot in north Sebastopol on Saturday afternoon. With signs in hand, they lined the street in front of the chargers.
“Today, March 29, is the global day of protest, and the organizers were trying to reach 500 sites globally where a Tesla protest would take place,” said Don Hess, organizer of the Sebastopol protest. “I knew there was one in Santa Rosa—and I went there this morning—but a week ago, I thought, ‘Why not do it in Sebastopol? We’ve got this brand new Tesla charging station right here.’”
Here’s Indivisible’s Steve Rohde, a retired attorney, on why he came out for the protest:
Not everyone was on board, however. Someone had written “THANK YOU, ELON” in giant letters in chalk in front of the chargers. One onlooker said, “I’m happy they’re not doing much vandalizing in this county…I was a little worried about this,” she said, nodding at the protestors, “but they’re just being vocal, which is a much better way to get your point across.” Another onlooker, a military service member, quipped, “There’s less diversity here than at a Trump rally.” (Both preferred to remain anonymous.)
Skeptics notwithstanding, a good time was had by all, and it’s probably the first time in years that the Lucky’s parking lot has been full.
SDFF folks from Iowa—makers of ‘The Negro Artist’—visit the Sebastopol Times
Iowa newspaperman Douglas Burns and filmmaker Nic Heftman are in Sebastopol this weekend for the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival to promote their new film “The Negro Artist,” a film about spoken word artist Caleb Rainey. Burns, a fourth-generation Iowa newspaper owner, is the film’s producer and Heftman is the director. “The Negro Artist” showed Friday night at SDFF, but you can still stream it online, starting tomorrow to April 10, when SDFF moves online for the streaming portion of the festival.
Burns was also impressed by another film at the festival, “The White House Effect,” which screened on opening night on Thursday. (Several Sebastopol Times readers also called us to tell us it was a must-see.) Luckily, “The White House Effect” is showing again this afternoon, Sunday, March 30, at 2 pm at the Rialto Cinemas.
Three decades ago, the world was poised to stop global warming. Using exclusively archival material, “The White House Effect” tells the dramatic origin story of the climate crisis and how a political battle within the George H.W. Bush administration changed the course of history. A veteran of that battle, Former EPA Administrator William Reilly was on hand at SDFF for a Q&A after the film. Turns out he now lives in Healdsburg. (And he might be there again this afternoon, according to SDFF’s Cynthi Stefenoni.)
In Iowa, Burns’ family operated the Carroll Times Herald for 93 years. Read his interview with Reilly, which is being co-published in the Sebastopol Times and Burn’s Substack paper The Iowa Mercury.
Rotary’s ‘Learn to Swim’ seeks volunteer swim teachers
From April 28 to May 22, the Sebastopol Rotary Club is offering free swimming lessons to children, and it’s looking for volunteer swim teachers. The Club has been providing basic swim and water safety lessons to children in West County since 1984.
“You do not have to be a former competitive swimmer or swim instructor to help with the lessons. We teach volunteers how to teach very basic swim lessons, and we help them poolside during classes as well,” Jacobs said.
Over 300 kids from participating schools such as Oak Grove, Park Side, Harmony, Forestville, Sunridge, Orchard View, Apple Blossom, Gravenstein, and Sebastopol Independent Charter will be eager for instruction.
Rotary Club co-chairs, Rick Wilson and Greg Jacobs, figure that more than 13,000 children have benefited from the program. Water safety experts have said that for every 100 lessons taught, a life is saved, so you can do the math.
If you, your partner, family members or friends want to help keep our children safe,
please volunteer to help at Ives. No offer to help will be refused. You can pick up a volunteer form at Ives, from a participating school, or by contacting Jacobs at 707-823-7341, gjacobs48@gmail.com, or Wilson at 707-824-0846, chefrickeywilson@yahoo.com.
How Rotary stopped wasting food and started feeding a Sebastopol neighborhood
Chamber Director and Rotary Club member Myriah Volk spent many years working in the food service industry, so she always chats up the food staff at events. Rotary Club of Sebastopol meetings always include lunch, so one day last year, Volk wandered into the kitchen.
“I went back there, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, there’s so much left over!’ Like we planned for 100 people, we only had 50. They made enough food for 100 people, and it was salmon that day. So I was like, ‘What do you do with this when we leave?’ And they said, ‘Oh, we throw it in the trash.’ And I said, ‘Are you kidding me, like you literally throw it in the trash?’ They said, ‘Yeah, it’s like a health department law or whatever.’ These were young kids just doing their job, but I was like, ‘Wait a second—this is not okay. We’re a service club. Does anyone know that this gets thrown in the trash?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, we don’t know. We just do it.’”
“So, long story short, I was like, ‘We can’t do this. This is not okay. Let’s figure out what we can do with the food,” Volk continued. “So I connected with Marilyn Madrone, who lives at Fircrest Mobile Home Park. She said ‘We would love to have it!’ And so ever since, at the end of Rotary, like at one o’clock, when the speaker starts, I pack it all up into to-go containers, and someone from Fircrest Mobile Home Park comes and takes it. They’ve got a common area there, and they have a little buffet every Friday with the leftover food.”
Correction
After our story about the Sebastopol West 100 giving circle posted, a couple of folks gently reminded me that Kenyon Webster was not the former city manager of Sebastopol, but was instead the former Sebastopol city planner. I knew this. Argh.
Sebastopol Police Logs, March 17-23
The following are crimes excerpted from Sebastopol Police Department daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
1:12 p.m. Theft by impersonation and swindling (misdemeanor) at Laguna Park Way. Pending further investigation.
TUESDAY
3:42 p.m. Battery of a spouse or companion, violation of probation (misdemeanors) and assault with a deadly weapon that was not a firearm (felony) at Pleasant Hill Avenue North. Referred to District Attorney for review.
WEDNESDAY
12:37 p.m. Failure to appear in court as promised in writing (misdemeanor) at McKinley and North Main streets. Suspect arrested.
2:27 p.m. Battery of a spouse or companion (misdemeanor) at Bodega Avenue. No disposition reported.
THURSDAY
10:59 a.m. Shoplifting (misdemeanor) at Sebastopol Avenue. Referred to District Attorney for review.
SUNDAY
12:01 p.m. Petty theft (misdemeanor) at Gravenstein Highway North. Pending further investigation.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 12 other events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
One thing that was pointed out to me at the protest at the Tesla chargers was the age of the participants. We were mostly Social Security age. We need young people.
Yay to Rotary Club for making sure all that food gets eaten!