One of the pleasures of working at the Petaluma Visitors Program is being alerted to all of the events happening in Petaluma so they can be posted on the Events Calendar on our website. This community is so full of energy that there is always something going on – and then there are the weekends like this one – two days totally jam-packed with options of interesting and fun stuff to do. It was great to be able to participate in some of it.
After finishing our eastside delivery route for Meals on Wheels on Saturday, Steve and I stopped at Lucchesi Park to take a look at the American Veterans Traveling Tribute Vietnam War memorial wall. Although most of Steve’s time in the army was spent in Germany, he is of the same era as these veterans even though he never served in Vietnam. As we walked along the memorial, it was obvious in the way that the veterans nodded at Steve in acknowledgement, that there is a strong bond among these men.
When I had posted this event on the website, I didn’t really think much about it – a wall didn’t sound all that impressive. But then I saw it in person. The sight of more than 58,000 names inscribed on a 360 foot wall was a very moving experience; I still tear up when I think of the single rose that was placed in front of one of the panels.
To lighten things up, we went across the street to the grand re-opening of Fundemonium, formerly HobbyTown. Steve has been working with Steve and Jean Elliott, owners of the store, on the name change, rebranding and store design. The store looked great – stop in and appreciate the signs hanging from the ceiling – they were made by a local fabricator, Sean Thorsson. Check out his battle gnomes on Etsy.
Deborah's pastels and brushes below one of her canvases
Then we moved onto ARTrails and had the pleasure of visiting the studio of my friend, former co-worker, and amazing artist Deborah Garber. She is a master with color – I would love to have one of her striking floral paintings above our fireplace to add some life to our otherwise bland walls.
If chores and errands didn’t have to get done, we could have kept going – onto the Taste of Mexico Mole Extravaganza at the Petaluma Arts Center, a bunch of pumpkin patches, the Petaluma International Film Festival, the Victorian Mourning exhibit at the Petaluma Museum…whew and that was only Saturday!