President's Message
Spring Greetings Petaluma Gap Members!
On Monday the 19th of April, we held the first of a series of Petaluma Gap Educational Member Tours. We visited the new and very incredible Carneros Vintners custom crush facility halfway between Petaluma and Sonoma on Hwy 116 (carnerosvintners.com). We had a great turnout and a wonderful tour and tour guide(s). (See our facebook page to view photos http://www.facebook.com/petalumagap?ref=ts) You really missed out if you didn't have the opportunity to attend. Thank you Dave Dobson and Nate Rippey for hosting us!
This was just the first of a series of tours and seminars that we are planning for this Spring and Summer. Our next tour is scheduled for Monday June 7th at 7:30pm at Kastania Vineyards. John Schuster from Wild Wing Company will be giving a seminar on the benefits of owls in the vineyard. Hoot and Linda Smith will be our hosts. We’ve scheduled it this time of the evening in the hopes of watching the owls at dusk.
Other tours in the works are...
- Grower's clinic sponsored by Gap's Crown,
- Tour of Scott Labs Cork Facility in Petaluma,
- Opportunity to see a bottling line in action at Cline Cellars,
- Vineyard tours, including McEvoy Ranch, with additional education about beneficial insects, pollinators and birds in orchards and vineyards.
And don't forget, our annual member picnic which will be at a new exciting location this summer! We hope you will watch your emails for the schedule. As we confirm the dates, the events will also be posted on our calendar on the website at Petalumagap.com.
In addition, we are always looking for new, fun photos for our facebook fan page ( http://www.facebook.com/petalumagap?ref=ts) and for our website. If you have any photos of your vineyards, your harvest, wine making, bottling, workdays, or photos that depict the essence of our climate (fog and wind) here in the Petaluma Gap region, please forward those to me or to Jeff Maddux (jeff@petalumagap.com). It would be beneficial to include a caption included with each photo that you send. And speaking of photos, we will soon be announcing an upcoming photo contest which will be "open to all" photographers. The theme will be: "Photographs that depict the essence of the Petaluma Gap: Its Wind, Fog, Soil and Weather", all within the confines of the Petaluma Gap designation. Terry Hankins, photographer at the Argus Courier, has presented the idea to some of our board members. Photos will potentially be displayed at Barry Singer Gallery downtown Petaluma. More details will follow as we get them. There will be cash prizes!
And finally, it is time to renew your Petaluma Gap membership! An annual letter is in the works and will be going out in the mail soon. You may also choose to go to the Petaluma Gap website, down load this year's membership application, and SEND YOUR CHECK NOW! A membership application is also attached.
I look forward to seeing you all at our events this year. Thank you very much for supporting the Petaluma Gap!
Teela
Petaluma Gap President 2009/2010
