Sunday RoundUp: Kickstarted
A big start to soccer season, community support for neighbors behind Safeway, this year's apple pie contest winners, and the Barlow's new co-work space
The recreational youth soccer season opened on Saturday morning at Ragle Park. Somewhere between two and three dozen fields were occupied with teams from Under 6s to Under 14s, girls and boys alike. Coming a week after the Gravenstein Apple Fair, Ragle Park was packed again, and its surrounding neighborhoods were filled with cars. WESCO organizes youth soccer leagues in Sebastopol.
Community support builds for Pitt Avenue neighbors behind Safeway
Our story on the racist behavior behind Safeway got a big response. In the article, we mentioned that Dezi’s mom, Althea Kai, was disappointed that she and her neighbors hadn’t gotten much support from the broader Sebastopol community. They felt like they were fighting this problem alone.
Well, that’s changed. Margaret Howe and others made signs they attached to the utility wall across the street from the Kais’ apartment building. Someone else chalked encouraging messages on the sidewalk. (And, of course, some joker chalked “Be gay, do drugs, hail Satan.”) Rob Moniz reached out to the Kais, as did Cindy Whitman Bradley, who’s been gathering the names of folks interested in providing community support to help solve this situation. (You can contact Cindy here.)
If you’re wondering how you can help, Dezi and Althea have a couple of requests:
“We would like parents of Analy students to bring this up at the school board meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 6 pm, at the Analy Library. I won’t be able to be there, but hoping some folks will. Both the NAACP and Holocaust Story Project are ready and willing [to give presentations at the school] but need to be invited by the administration. Also, come in person or on Zoom (or send public comment) for the next Sebastopol City Council meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 1, at 6 pm, at the Sebastopol Youth Annex, 425 Morris St. in Sebastopol.” The council is expected to have the Safeway issue on its agenda that night.
Correction
In our piece on the Sebastopol Commons, we accidentally left off a few important zeroes, writing $18,000 instead of $18,000,000. That sentence should have read: “A 2019 estimate for expanding the library alone was $18,000,000, which the committee said in today’s money would be roughly $32,000,000—and that would only solve the problem for the library.”
Gravenstein Apple Fair’s 1st prize winners in the apple pie baking contests
There are two apple pie baking contests at the Gravenstein Apple Fair: one for regular folks and one for professional chefs, called the Great Gravenstein Bake Off. This year Geneva Melby of the Sebastopol restaurant, The Redwood, took first place in the latter.
“The pie I made for the Apple Fair bake-off is a Gravenstein Apple Root Beer Float Pie,” she told the Sebastopol Times. “I made an apple butter with sarsaparilla from Rosemary’s Garden, which is layered throughout the pie. It has a cream filling flavored with sarsaparilla and other spices, which also has fresh apple folded into it. The crust is made with almond flour and graham cracker.”
This is the second year she’s participated in the bake-off. Her award-winning pie is currently on the menu at The Redwood for a limited time, available by the slice or as a whole pie with pre-order.
Meanwhile, home pie maker extraordinaire Lauren McNaughton took first-place honors this year in the annual home pie-baking contest with her apple-apricot pie. (She and her mom have taken second and first place honors for the last two years.)
Here’s the recipe for her award-winning pie this year:
Gravenstein App-Ricot Pie
Pie Crust:
2 1/2C AP flour (unbleached)
1/2 tsp fine salt
1TBSP sugar
1C COLD, unsalted butter, diced
6 TBSP ice cold water
Filling:
3TBS homemade apricot jam (organic apricots, lemon, sugar)
5 fresh organic apricots, pitted and quartered
5 organic Gravenstein apples; diced
1C White Sugar
1/4C Organic AP Flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice
Dash nutmeg
Drizzle of maple syrup (1-2TBSP)
Maple Oat Crumble:
3/4C organic AP flour
3/4C old fashioned oats
1/2 tsp coarse kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 pure maple syrup
3TBSP brown sugar
1/2tsp vanilla extract
5TBSP unsalted butter, softened
Cooking:
Preheat oven to 400*
Prepare pie crust with pastry cutter or food processor by mixing cold butter into flour, salt and sugar until pea-sized shapes of butter are formed. Add half of your water at a time, ensuring a good mix before adding more. Dough should press into shape when pinched and not be overly wet. Form into dough ball; press into disc; cover and chill for 4-plus hours.
Once chilled, roll out pie crust and form into 9” pie tin. Poke a few holes in the bottom, and lightly coat the crust with apricot jam. Set aside. Pit. cut and core fruit pieces and toss with lemon juice. Add sugar and spices from filling recipe and toss again until all pieces are generously coated. Top with a drizzle of maple syrup and add to pie dish.
Prepare crumble topping with a pastry cutter or a fork by mashing the softened butter and vanilla with dry ingredients until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated with the moist ingredients. The crumble should be just that: crumbly with chunks of butter and oats. Cover filling with crumble.
Cover edges of crust with pie shield or aluminum foil to prevent any burning around the edges. Cook at 400 degrees for 45-45 minutes until filling is bubbling around the edges, and pie crust is golden brown. Enjoy!
Alissa Trinei, the former manager at Manzana and the new manager of the Gold Ridge Organic Farms Apple Press in Santa Rosa, was in charge of the pie contest. She said there were 12 pies submitted in the apple pie baking contest this year. Other award winners in the pie baking contest include Isabella Sevv (2nd place) and Pamela Davis (3rd place).
The Barlow opens a stylish new CoWork space
The Barlow opened a new CoWork space last month. It’s located upstairs in the small office complex on Depot Street.
“We noticed that the Barlow was missing quiet and more specific places to work,” said Barlow CoWork manager Jenn Speckhart. “We love that Barlow guests usually work at Taylor Lane’s amazing space, but we know some people need a more dedicated space with printing capabilities, meeting rooms, and quiet space.”
At the Barlow CoWork, you can rent a full office or a dedicated or floating desk. These come with high-speed Wi-Fi; free color and black-and-white printing services; a kitchen equipped with coffee, tea, and snacks; community meeting spaces; plus a private conference room you can book separately. You can also get a day pass for $35.
Robert “Bob” Murnane
Robert “Bob” Joseph Murnane, 85, of Sebastopol, passed away peacefully with close family in attendance on August 6th, 2026. A longtime social worker in Sonoma County, he touched many lives with his thoughtful, caring manner—in his career, his family, and through his friendships, both new and lifelong. He had a large extended family and stayed in contact with many relatives in California and in Minnesota. He valued his lifelong friends and family above all else.
