Who won the awards for business and new business of the year?
Part 2: Find out the answers in our continuing coverage of the Community Awards
This is Part 2 of a two-part article. You can read Part 1 here.
New Business of the Year: Gather
Friends Erin Hillmer and Jen Koelemeijer opened Gather, a new store devoted to practical arts in downtown Sebastopol, in April. Their website describes Gather as “A place for makers, doers, and lifelong learners.”
Gather was chosen as new business of the year.
Community Awards co-host Melena Moore, president of the Chamber’s board of directors, said, “Your retail store is beautifully designed, and you offer classes and education for creating homemade products. It’s a brand new concept for downtown Sebastopol, and you’ve created a place for people to learn together and be creative.”
Nonprofit of the Year: Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Sebastopol Center for the Arts is the heart of Sebastopol’s arts community, and this year’s award for Nonprofit of the Year recognized that fact. Under the leadership of Director Serafina Palandech and board members like Jamie Studley, who together accepted the award, the organization has emerged stronger than ever from a period of financial disarray to become one of most interesting arts organizations in the North Bay. Each exhibition is more surprising and delightful than the last.
“There are so many community members here, that have been involved in so many integral ways to building this incredible community of volunteers and members and donors and artists. We, together, we have woven this incredible tapestry of artistry,” Palandech said at the awards ceremony. I’m so blown away every day by the level of involvement of this community and how we are so committed to making the arts thrive, providing arts education for children and for adults and for seniors. We have nine programs. I encourage you to come and get involved.”
Business of the Year: Rialto Cinemas
Rialto owner Ky Boyd accepted the award for Business of the Year for the Rialto Cinemas. Moore introduced him with a long list of the nonprofit partners with which the Rialto works to raise money and awareness through film and other events: Food for Thought, NorCal Public Media. Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. Sebastopol World Friends, OutWatch Film Festival, Jewish Community Center of a Sonoma County, Sonoma County Library Foundation, Sonoma County Peace and Justice Center, Sonoma County Office of Education, Face to Face, Verity, Listening for a Change, Analy High School’s Only in West County, Film Festival, Indivisible Sonoma County, and more.
“I’m exhausted just listening to that list,” Boyd joked as he accepted the award.
He urged folks to come to the theater, saying “No filmmaker makes their film imagining you watching it on your phone or your TV or your iPad. Every filmmaker, unless they’re making a movie for Hallmark or Lifetime TV, imagines you watching their movie in a theater.”
Service to Seniors: Lucy Whitworth
The Service to Seniors Award went to Senior Center volunteer extraordinaire Lucy Whitworth for her work creating the center’s Senior Lesbian Community Group.
Senior Center Director Katie Davis noted that although Whitworth had only been volunteering at the Senior Center, she’s accomplished so much that David had assumed she’s been there for a decade. “She originally approached our LGBT activities coordinator and said, ‘Hey, I’m looking for a place for a group of senior lesbians to meet. We want to connect. We want to network. We want to share resources. We want to build community.’ And so Scottie quickly found a space for her, and basically, by word of mouth, at the first meeting, 20 women showed up. If you know the Senior Center, it’s tiny, so that was a lot of people in one of the rooms, and Lucy said, ‘We’re gonna need a bigger boat.’ So we got a beautiful space over at Wischemann Hall that we rent and now—from that original 20 women— there are now 250 women that show up or that are on the list, and they have built an incredible network, and this is all thanks to Lucy’s leadership.”
In accepting her award, Whitworth said, “What we have created with our senior lesbian community group is a miracle, really. So many seniors—all seniors during the pandemic—were isolated and not coming out and not being with friends. And personally, I feel like being in community is the most important thing for all of us.”
Volunteer of the Year: Johnny Campbell
You might know Johnny Campbell as the effervescent drummer and lead vocalist of The Pulsators, a band that, as Moore said, “has been making audiences dance for over 30 years.”
But it turns out there’s much more to Mr. Campbell.
According to Moore’s introduction, “Johnny is a community builder who recognizes that bringing people together is the most fun and the spark that creates a fire of passion within himself. As a board member of Peacetown, Johnny has been instrumental in creating the Friends of Peacetown Benefit every spring that supports the Peacetown Summer Concert Series. He is also the emcee of the concerts too, and he puts together a benefit at the Apple Blossom Festival. He has organized 10 bands to support a local musician friend experiencing health issues. Whatever the need, Johnny is grateful to help and enjoys the love that is generated from the hearts of the audiences that attend these events. Whether he is driving The Pulsators or organizing an event, he does so with full gusto and joy.”
Apple Blossom Volunteer of the Year: Tim Johnson
Ever wonder who organizes the Apple Blossom Parade every year and gets all those floats in order? Wonder no more. It’s Tim Johnson, recipient of this year’s Apple Blossom Volunteer award.
Chamber Director Myriah Volk explained: “The Apple Blossom Festival itself requires about 150 volunteers to make the event go off without a hitch. But there’s one volunteer that is just a little extra meaningful, and it’s the person who puts the parade together from start to finish. This person and I sit in the boardroom at the Chamber, and we talk about the order. We’ve got 100 entries. Where do we put them? Sound, no sound, marching band. It is a long and laborious process, and there is a man here that makes it very easy. He’s going to be retiring soon—I’m scared for that to happen—but when you watch that parade, just know that that kind of thing doesn’t just happen. There’s so much coordination and precision that goes into making that parade the joy that it is.”
Johnson recalled how he ended up doing this.
“About 30 years ago, my good friend Steve Prandini—I think he was an officer in the Chamber at the time—he said, ‘Hey, Tim, come out and help me with the parade. He was doing what I do now, and he said, ‘Do it for a couple years, and then we’ll get some other person to do it.’ That was about 30 years ago. I had a real good time doing it—it’s its own reward—but I would like to see the parade from a different angle. I’ve only seen it from Analy. Next year, it’ll be a little different.”
Restaurant of the Year: Goldfinch
Goldfinch was awarded Restaurant of the Year, and owners Nick Izzarelli and Deanna Neale came up to accept the award.
Moore introduced them, saying, “This is one of my personal favorites, probably yours as well, since we all voted for them. Goldfinch, in the last year, has donated over $5,000 to local causes, including numerous gift cards to silent auctions and charitable events for Analy, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Santa Rosa Symphony, as well as food, staffing and/or proceeds for events like Food and Wine Affair, Becoming Independent, Indulge Sonoma, and Dining Out for Life.
“The reason I love Sebastopol so much is literally because of this right here,” Neale said, “this tiny, little, niche, beautiful group of humans and businesses. It’s what makes it really special, and I feel really honored to be a part of it.”
Neale’s description perfectly captured the feeling of the whole evening and the way so many in Sebastopol—including this writer—feel about this town: proud to be a part of it.
Other awards
The Service to Animals award went to Michael Waldo from Animal Kingdom Veterinary.
Best Visitors Center, a new category this year, went to The Barlow.
Finally The Barlow gets the recognition it deserves, not the regular hate from the “locals”.