Local

LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline 1947-2000
Mondays 6-7:30pm. Online via Zoom through SRJC LifeLong Learning. On Oct 14, we will be talking with Ruth Mahaney and others about the interface between Lesbian liberation and the Women’s Movement in SoCo in the 1970s. Please contact me to enroll in this FREE class and receive a Zoom link: cdungan@santarosa.edu

Are you LGBTQ+ and 50 years of age or older? Rural-living and low-income? The Sebastopol Area Senior Center is looking for focus group participants as part of a state-wide project focusing on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ older adults. Your participation will directly influence resources, services and policies to better support the LGBTQIA+ communities.

Email Scotty at scotty@sebastopolseniorcenter.org to potentially take part in this important focus group which seeks to amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ individuals who live rurally and are low-income.

The date is Saturday, October 5, from 1-3 p.m. at our Sebastopol Senior Center.
Participants must register and be approved ahead of time.

For more information, including how to participate in this focus group, please email: scotty@sebastopolseniorcenter.org or by clicking HERE

Sebastopol songwriter Anne Carol Mitchell aka Brightdarkdawn, who writes music inspired by ecology and conservation, is teaching a day-long, collaborative workshop with Pepperwood’s Education Program Manager, Holland Gistelli. The workshop, Nature as Muse: Songwriting with the Land, will take place at Pepperwood Preserve on Saturday, October 19th. 

Mitchell and Gistelli are providing a workshop to inspire connections with nature through artistic expression and discovery in the natural world. Gistelli, who has over 14 years of experience in environmental education, will lead participants on a hike where they will be invited to explore the extraordinary beauty of Pepperwood through their senses followed by a meditative journaling exercise. Mitchell will introduce participants to music derived from experiences in nature and guide participants to use their revelations in the natural world in the development of lyrics and songs. The focus on the workshop will be on discovery and the creative process, so all levels of musical and writing experience are welcomed. For more information, visit bit.ly/NatureSongwriting. 

“Pepperwood’s work and dedication to conservation through the arts are so important for connecting people to nature, helping them to go deeper than just a walk in the woods. Our workshop will be a place where people can not only take in the extraordinary majesty of Pepperwood, but also use artistic practice to cultivate greater presence with the natural world,” said Mitchell

Pepperwood, whose mission is to inspire conservation through science, is known throughout Sonoma County as a place that spotlights the arts and artists that work in environmental subject matter. Pepperwood’s Inspiring Connections with Nature Initiative includes seasonal shows in the Gallery at the Dwight Center for Conservation Science as well as outdoor sculptures prominently displayed on its property. As Pepperwood’s Gallery Director and Cultural Resource Coordinator, Ben Benson, has shared on Pepperwood’s website, “Pepperwood utilizes art as an aesthetic segue and as an emotional stimulus. The goal is to open people’s hearts so that they can feel more deeply the magnificence of Nature.” 

Workshop details:

Nature as Muse: Songwriting with the Land

Saturday, October 19, 2024

9:00am – 4:00m

$65 per person
Ages 16 and up welcome
Meet at the Bechtel House, Pepperwood Preserve 

2130 Pepperwood Preserve Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Participants must sign up beforehand at bit.ly/NatureSongwriting.

Bios 

Anne Carol Mitchell aka Brightdarkdawn

Anne Carol Mitchell, MFA, is a composer and songwriter in Sonoma County who crafts music with the aim of awakening care and healing for the living earth. Her songs are reminiscent of folk traditions in the vein of Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Anne’s work celebrates the storied existence of the Earth in all its beauty, vulnerability, resiliency, and ferocity. Anne is a graduate of the UC Climate Stewards certification course and the California Naturalist program at Pepperwood. 

Anne’s most recent work in Sonoma County was the sold-out, queer art and ecology concert I’ll Show You the Night in partnership with the Robert Ferguson Observatory and the Arlene Francis Center. The event included the release of Brightdarkdawn’s new album I’ll Show You the Night.

Anne has shared the stage and studio with notable artists including Ani DiFranco, Jimmy Horn (Mr. December), Judy Grahn (a woman is talking to death), Peter Jaques (Brass Menažeri), as well as others. She has produced four albums of original songs under her name and under her new project name Brightdarkdawn. Listen to her latest releases at https://brightdarkdawn.com/.

Anne’s work as a teacher has included adjunct faculty at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, guest lecturing at New College of California, and Sofia University in the Women’s Spirituality and Experimental Performance Master’s programs. She has designed music curriculum for teenage girls and taught songwriting workshops at women’s retreats in Canada.

Holland Gistelli

Holland has over 14 years of experience in the fields of education and youth development, most of which has been dedicated to environmental education in Sonoma County. She has called both coasts home, from a childhood spent roaming the hills of Napa County to studying Psychology and School Counseling at the University of Connecticut. She is a firm believer in the multidimensional value of environmental education for all, and is passionate about connecting people with the natural world. Holland coordinates Pepperwood’s Community Education classes and hikes, manages our Students Conducting Environmental Inquiry (SCENIQ) and TeenNat programs, and is a certified California Naturalist and Climate Steward. In her free time she enjoys travel and camping, dabbling in art projects and gardening, and good meals with friends and family.

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Join us for a day of adventures at the Environmental Discovery Center on Saturday September 7th from 10:30am-1:30pm! The Environmental Discovery Center at Spring Lake Regional Park is a natural history center featuring hands-on displays and exhibits designed primarily for children in elementary school (but fun for folks of all ages!). At the Environmental Discovery Center folks can learn about Sonoma County’s ecosystems through exhibits that invite them to touch, climb, crawl, and imagine, explore a tide pool with live sea creatures, see live fish, and get up close to taxidermy wildlife like mountain lions and coyote, conduct earth science experiments and learn to look at surroundings in new ways, and hike with a naturalist and learn about local plants and animals. The Environmental Discovery Center’s current exhibit is “Habitat and Home.” 

The Environmental Discovery Center address is 393 Violetti Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95409, located just inside of the Violetti Road entrance to Spring Lake. Thanks to our friends at Sonoma County Regional Parks, PI staff will have parking passes available for the first 20 drivers who don’t have a Regional Parks pass.

Social Saturdays are monthly family friendly and all ages events taking place in different locations around Sonoma County. Keep in touch to learn where the next Social Saturday will be. 

[Image description: An image, titled “Social Saturday” in a blue font, has a textured green background with a light blue river swimming down the right side of the graphic in an S shape. The bank of the river is dotted with trees, bushes, and rocks. A hawk, otter, millipedes, and isopods are found near the river. A yellow sun sits in the top left corner. The logos for Positive Images and North Bay LGBTQI Families are in the top right corner. The text on the left side of the image reads “Environmental Discovery Center, 10:30am-1:30pm, September 7th, 2024.”]***

Acompáñenos en un día de aventuras en el Centro de Descubrimiento Medioambiental el sábado 7 de septiembre de 10:30 a 13:30. El Centro de Descubrimiento Medioambiental del Parque Regional de Spring Lake es un centro de historia natural con exposiciones prácticas diseñadas principalmente para niños de primaria (¡pero son divertidas para gente de todas las edades!). En el Centro de Descubrimiento Medioambiental, los niños pueden aprender sobre los ecosistemas del condado de Sonoma a través de exposiciones que les invitan a tocar, escalar, gatear e imaginar, explorar una piscina de mareas con criaturas marinas vivas, ver peces vivos y acercarse a animales salvajes taxidermizados como pumas y coyotes, realizar experimentos de ciencias de la tierra y aprender a observar el paisaje de nuevas formas, así como hacer excursiones con un naturalista y aprender sobre plantas y animales locales. La exposición actual del Centro de Descubrimiento Medioambiental es «Hábitat y hogar». 

La dirección del Centro de Descubrimiento Medioambiental es 393 Violetti Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95409, situado justo dentro de la entrada de Violetti Road hacia Spring Lake. Gracias a nuestros amigos de los Parques Regionales del Condado de Sonoma, el personal de PI dispondrá de pases de estacionamiento para los primeros 20 conductores que no tengan un pase de los Parques Regionales.

Los Sábados Sociales son eventos mensuales para toda la familia y todas las edades que se realizan en diferentes lugares del Condado de Sonoma. Manténgase en contacto para saber dónde será el próximo Sábado Social. 

[Descripción de la imagen: Una imagen, titulada “Sábado social” en letra azul, tiene un fondo verde texturizado con un río azul claro que baja por el lado derecho del gráfico en forma de S. La orilla del río está salpicada de árboles, arbustos y rocas. La orilla del río está salpicada de árboles, arbustos y rocas. Cerca del río hay un halcón, una nutria, milpiés e isópodos. En la esquina superior izquierda aparece un sol amarillo. Los logotipos de Positive Imagines y North Bay LGBTQI Families están en la esquina superior derecha. El texto de la parte izquierda de la imagen dice “Environmental Discovery Center, 10:30-1:30pm, 7 de septiembre de 2024”].