RoundUp: More people "otter" read more
Sprucing up the Forestville Library, photos from Sebastopol's past, Ukrainian visitors, fun new mixers, and more
Celebrating the Forestville Community Library
So many people love their library, and some who love the Forestville Community Library on the El Molino Campus gathered together on Friday afternoon to celebrate a recent renovation. They browsed, enjoyed refreshments and grabbed a canvas book bag. Sonoma County Library Director Erika Thibault and Forestville Branch Manager Rosalie Abbott (formerly a popular Sebastopol librarian) were there to welcome everyone.
An April 2025 study from the University of Florida and the University College of London found that “daily reading for pleasure in the United States has declined by more than 40% over the last 20 years.” One of the researchers said: “Reading has always been one of the more accessible ways to support well-being. To see this kind of decline is concerning because the research is clear: reading is a vital health-enhancing behavior for every group within society, with benefits across the life-course.” The researchers suggested that community-centered reading opportunities could help generate more interest in reading. “Ideally, we’d make local libraries more accessible and attractive, encourage book groups, and make reading a more social and supported activity — not just something done in isolation.”
“Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real.” – Nora Ephron
Sebastopoll: Are you reading more or less now?
In this poll, we don’t differentiate between online and print books.
The Sebastopoll of two weeks ago asked about your favorite grocery store. We had 277 readers take the poll with the Fircrest getting the most votes.
New exhibit of vintage photos at the West County Museum
When Donna Pittman led a history walk with 46 attendees in September, several people mentioned how much they’d enjoyed seeing pictures of what the town looked like way back when. That was the inspiration for the West County Museum’s newest exhibit, “Uncovering Our Past.”
The question was which photos to choose: “We’ve got over 8,000 photos, and we have all different sizes, from tiny to big,” Pittman said. “So we just decided to start with the 8x10s, and we sat down here as a little group, and came up with a little theme of faces, places, and events.”
Unsurprisingly, a lot of the photos have to do with apples and trains—the hallmark of the town in the middle of the last century. But there are also photos from the early days of the Bohemian Grove, and lots more
A Ukrainian delegation visits Sebastopol
Over the last week, Sebastopol World Friends, Sebastopol’s sister city organization, has been hosting a delegation of five Ukrainian professional women, who are visiting Sonoma County as part of Open World, a U.S. Congressionally sponsored program that brings professionals from former Soviet and developing countries to the U.S. to experience our form of governance and to study a focused topic. This delegation’s focus is “Serving Children in Times of War” and “Establishing Child/Family Counseling Networks.”
The delegates are special education teachers, community service organizers, and a legislative advisor. They include Olena Heivan-Lobova, a special education resource specialist with the City of Chyhyryn; Rusana Sharlai, president of Poruch NGO which provides a wide variety of social service resources for children and families who are displaced by the war in Ukraine or are victims of abuse; Snishana Dudnyk, a special education teacher with the City of Cherkasy; Lillia Lypova, an advisor to a Member of Parliament in Ukraine regarding justice, education, social policy, and security; Liudmyla Kubatko, a professional development specialist with EdCamp Ukraine, a country wide special education program.
During their two-week stay, they are visiting local social service agencies, like TLC and the Sebastopol Area Senior Center, and schools, including Park Side School, where they displayed this beautiful banner made by schoolchildren in Ukraine.
Land + Local mixers
Kim Lavere brought her Land+Local collection of botanical mixers, syrups, shrubs and bitters to a fall wine club event at DRNK Winery off Frei Road on Saturday. She was offering samples for guests to taste. Kim is collaborating with DRNK on a gift product that includes a bottle of DRNK Pet-Nat (a sparkling wine) and the Rose Cardamon Meyer Lemon mixer, which can be combined to create a delicious spritzer. (Note: Sebastopol Times co-owner Dale Dougherty is part-owner of DRNK.) The mixers also transform sparkling water into a more flavorful drink.
Kim lives in Healdsburg after living in Sebastopol for four years. She is a chef and herbalist. During Covid, Kim needed to find a new way to make a living. “I couldn’t go into people’s homes and cook for them anymore.” She came up with the idea of herbal-based mixers sourced from the produce of Sonoma County farms. “I wanted to find ways to incorporate herbal medicine into people’s daily lives and I decided to use natural, local ingredients to make drinks.” Now she makes her products by hand in Healdsburg and sells them at farmers markets in the area and online. She can often be found at the Sebastopol Farmers Market.
Correction
In Rollie Atkinson’s article on Sebastopol’s new congressional district, there were two errors:
Mike McGuire, our State Senator, was never an assemblyman. He went straight from being a county supervisor to being a state senator.
Also, while County Registrar of Voters Evelyn Mendez has worked in state and local election offices for 32 years, she has not, as our article suggested, spent her whole career in Sonoma County. According to a county press release from July 14, 2025, “Mendez comes to Sonoma County from the County of Santa Clara, where she has served as a division manager in the Registrar of Voters Department for six years. She previously worked in the California Secretary of State Elections Division since 1996, working up to become a program manager. She has worked more than 110 elections at the state and county level.”
Sebastopol Police Logs, Nov. 3-9
The following are crimes excerpted from the Sebastopol Police Department's daily crime log entries and listed at the time the alleged violation was reported.
MONDAY
7:55 p.m. Served an arrest warrant for failure to appear in court on a felony charge at Valley View Court. Suspect arrested.
10:19 p.m. Evading and obstructing a peace officer (misdemeanors) at Gravenstein Highway North. Pending further investigation.
TUESDAY
11:19 p.m. Failure to appear in court after promising in writing (misdemeanor) at South Main Street and Calder Avenue. Suspect arrested.
WEDNESDAY
1:51 p.m. Vandalism involving property damage (misdemeanor) at Bodega Avenue, Ragle Road and Ragle Avenue. Investigation suspended, leads exhausted.
6:59 p.m. Driving with a suspended license at Healdsburg Avenue. Suspect arrested.
8:44 p.m. Served a felony arrest warrant at McKinley Street. Suspect arrested.
THURSDAY
7:32 p.m. Negligent manslaughter (felony) on Monday, causing injury to an elder dependent adult at Petaluma Avenue. For information only.
FRIDAY
12:09 p.m. Obstructing a public officer (misdemeanor) and having a dog off-leash in a public place at Willow Street. Suspect arrested.
5:23 p.m. Shoplifting (misdemeanor) at Sebastopol Avenue. No resolution reported.
OTHER POLICE ACTION
The Sebastopol Police Department also recorded 156 events requiring police action during the period, such as lost animals, assisting citizens, parking violations, foot patrol, traffic hazards and reckless driving.
