Currents - Russian River Chamber of Commerce

Currents - Russian River Chamber of Commerce

Russian River Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
July 2010
Currents Meetings:
 July 14th — Chamber
Mixer @ Withywindle
Gallery, Main Street
Guerneville—6pm
 NO BOARD MEETING
THIS MONTH!
 July 21st —
Up With Downtown
Guerneville, 2:30pm
@ Johnson’s Beach
Office
 July 13th — Russian
River Historical Society
Meeting, 6:30pm @ MR
Community Center
 July 20th — RR Fire
District Meeting, 7pm
@ Guerneville Fire
Station
 July 21st — RR Park &
Rec. Board Meeting,
7pm @ RR Senior
Center
 July 22nd — RRROC
Meeting 6:00pm @
Guerneville Vet’s Hall
 Every Tuesday — RR
Rotary, 6:30pm @
Highland Dell
Inside this issue:
News from the Board
2
Member News
4-8
Russian River Jazz/Blues
Festival
9
Calendar of Events
12
Contact Us
13
Currents
www.russianriver.com
Page 2
News From the Board
A Round of Applause to All!
On June 12 the Chamber held the fundraiser, Keepin’ the Blues Alive
Again, at the Guerneville Vets’ Hall. Headliner, Roy Rogers, experienced
chest pain during the show and was rushed to the hospital by Russian
River Fire Protection District personnel. He had a stent put in and is extremely grateful to the communities of Guerneville and Santa Rosa for
taking good care of him. He is feeling great and already touring again.
Thank you to our raffle sponsors: Touch of Greene, Burke’s Canoe Trips, King’s Sport, River’s Edge Kayaks and
Canoes, Johnson’s Beach, Russian River Video, Andorno’s Pizza, Coffee Bazaar, Dawn Ranch, Sophie’s Cellars,
Howard’s Station, Johnny Garlics/Tex Wasabi, Moshin Vineyards, Occidental Healing Arts, and the Russian River
Jazz and Blues Festival. Thank you very much to everyone who helped with the event: John “Milo” Chapman and
Midnight Sun, Russian River Rotary Club, Ed Smith, Rick Harrington, Hayley Severe, Diana Nolan, Dale Walters,
LaTapatia Taco Truck, Riverlane Resort, Chamber staff—Opal Pullaro, Valerie Munthe and Laura Wigod, and
board members—Valerie Haussmann, Richard Lester, Margaret Kennett,
Kayte Guglielmino, Art Severe. And thank you to our community and beyond
for attending and supporting the Chamber. The proceeds will be going to the
Up With Downtown
Chamber’s downtown security guard fund this year.
Guerneville Meetings are
A side note: if an emergency occurs in the Guerneville area, do not call 911
the 4th Wednesdays of the
from a cell phone. The call would be routed to Vallejo and could cause delays.
Month, at 2:30pm at
Please dial dispatch
Johnson’s Beach Office and
are open to the public
Downtown Guerneville Businesses partake in Façade Program
The Russian River Chamber of Commerce has
partnered with the Russian River Redevlopment
Oversight Committee, the Community Development
Commission, and the Russian River Historical Society
to bring a beautiful and enlightening façade to the
vacant storefronts in downtown Guerneville. The
project, started back in May, was conjured by a group
of local concerned citizens who wanted to deliver a
positive image of Guerneville’s business sector for
visitors and locals to enjoy. The layout consists of
posters, already tried and tested in the city of Sonoma,
which give photographic reference to the beauty of the
area. The collection of posters placed in each window
of the vacant buildings will consist of a CDC and RR
Chamber collaboration, with beautiful images of our
best features, a simple, yet clever, slogan “Your
Business Could Be Here” along with landlord contact
information. In addition to this poster, the Russian
River Historical Society has donated historical images
of the area to be displayed as well.
In addition to this project, Redevelopment has
allocated special loans for building owners to improve
their storefronts in addition to the poster; ie. Painting
or new awnings, etc. For more information, please
contact Sonoma County Community Development
Commission at 707-565-7523 or log onto
www.sonoma-county.org/cdc/redevrussianriver.htm
Your Ad Here!
Call 707-869-9000 or email
news@russianriver.com for details
Currents
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Page 3
Renewed Members
ADA Compliance Services
Chris Brokate Janitorial Services
Coldwell Banker — Jim Laufenberg
D&G Equity Management
Edward Jones
Ferngrove Cottages
Highlands Resort
Inn @ Occidental
Lambert’s Guerneville 76
Northwood Golf Course
Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary
Porter Creek Vineyards
Rio Villa Beach Resort
River Bend Resort
Riverbeach Properties
Riverlane Resort
River West Rentals
Russian River Vacation Rentals
Santa Nella House
Sunset Manor of Guerneville
West County Health Centers
William F. Hollabaugh Printing Services
Zeigler Mechanical
Currents
Vacation Rentals Face New Challenges
By Camille LeGrand
In December of 2008, we learned that the Permit
& Resource Management Department (PRMD)
intended to ban vacation rentals in R-1 and RR
districts, based on a handful of “problem”
vacation rentals in Sonoma Valley. In response,
vacation rental management companies in the
county formed a Task Force to educate PRMD
and the Board of Supervisors regarding the 1000
or so vacation rentals in Sonoma County. The
fight to maintain our local tourist-based economy
has been on-going for 18 months.
Vacation rentals are vital to our local
economy, especially in the river area. We
estimate that vacation rentals bring over 30,000
visitors here every year. Without these, the loss
to our local restaurants, bars, stores, and services
would be substantial; indeed, many could not
survive. Without vacation rental income, many
homes here will fall into foreclosure or undergo
forced sales, dragging down all property values.
The vacation rental management companies are
the largest employers in the area and support
many ancillary service businesses as well:
contractors, handy folk, cleaners, dog sitters and
gardeners, to name a few.
In January 2009, the Board of Supervisors
rejected the PRMD proposition to ban vacation
rentals in part because the direct economic
benefit to the county from vacation rentals is in
the vicinity of $88,000,000 per year, with
$2,000,000 collected from TOT alone. The
Board of Supervisors appointed Supervisor
Valerie Brown and our Fifth District Supervisor
Efren Carrillo as the ad hoc committee for
vacation rentals and instructed PRMD to come
up with a registration plan and enforcement
power over problem houses.
Thereupon began a year-long project,
involving the Task Force of vacation rental
managers, the ad hoc committee, PRMD,
www.russianriver.com
Page 4
Member News
NORBAR (the realtors association), the Tax
Collector, and some angry homeowners who
were complaining very loudly of no more than
five vacation rentals deemed to be a
problem. The result of this collaborative work
resulted in a proposed vacation rental ordinance
unveiled in January 2010. A public workshop
held then invited comments on this proposed
ordinance and the Task Force supported it in
principle, with the understanding that there were
still many details to be worked out, especially
with regard to enforcement. At that point, the
Task Force felt that this ordinance was huge
overkill to deal with a few problem houses, but if
the Board of Supervisors wanted regulation, this
was regulation we could live with.
PRMD went silent after that workshop. In late May, we finally received the new
draft ordinance from PRMD. This ordinance
bears little resemblance to the January 2010
proposal, it was drafted without regard for any
economic consequences, it is draconian in its
provisions, inserts an entire septic red herring
that was never part of any discussions, and
appears to have as its intent the gradual
elimination of most vacation rentals---one
complaint and the vacation rental permit could
be revoked for a year. The ordinance was set for
hearing by the Planning Commission on June 10,
to be followed by a BOS hearing in mid-July.
At the June 10 hearing, the Planning
Commission rejected the proposed ordinance
and sent it back to PRMD to come up with
something simpler and without the negative
economic consequences, with the next hearing
set for August 5.
At this point, the Russian River area is
fighting for its economic life since the “problem”
houses (except for one or two self-managed
vacation rentals in Guerneville) are in Sonoma
Valley, but our area will be...(continued to page 8…)
Currents
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Fort Ross 200-Year Celebration Needs Volunteers
partnerships with committees and organizations. Please
join us!
The mission of Fort Ross 2012 is to commemorate the
200 years of natural, cultural and human history of Fort Ross
(known today as Fort Ross State Historic Park), increase public
interest and preserve the rich and vital legacy for future generations
through a series of special events featuring the diverse influences of many
people, including Kashaya and Coast Miwok Indians, Russians, Native Alaskans, Spanish, Mexican and
Americans.
Fort Ross State Historic Park and the Fort Ross 2012
Steering Committee are pleased to invite the general public
to volunteer for the preparation of the Bicentennial
Commemoration of Fort Ross in 2012. The Fort Ross
2012 Steering Committee is seeking individuals as well as
Do you love talking about and sharing with people all the
wonderful stories that surround Fort Ross? Or California
history! Are you an artist, a photographer, or do you love
to participate in plays, or write poetry, do you like to work
with children, or travel, do you like to work with your
hands to create lasting memories, or are you a planner or an
office worker or do you love to share stories, are you good
at weaving or do you like hosting people from other countries – in particular Russia and Alaska? Then this meeting
is for you.
We believe that the rich and diverse history associated with
200 years of existence of Fort Ross provides an excellent
opportunity to work cooperatively in the development of
exhibits, shows, symposia, and concerts which will provide
insights into the time when Fort Ross was put the map and
also reflect on the establishment of California as a state, on
the contributions of different nations and on quests of
individuals and organizations then and now.
Please contact Robin Joy at 707847-4777 or
frinterp@parks.ca.gov for more information or to
volunteer.
Volunteer Registry Getting Off the Ground
In the year 2007 Robbi Ernst III had an idea of creating three registries of volunteers for the RR area. One registry
would be a database of people who want to help others in the
community as well as those who already volunteer in various
way and projects. This registry would be called the Russian
River Volunteers Registry Database that was specific to, and
for, the Russian River area. While Santa Rosa has for many
years had an excellent staff and volunteers who have maintained an incredibly up-to-date and well-organized database of
volunteers he heard too often that people from the Russian
River area have had difficulties finding volunteers who were
local to the area.
A second registry would be compiled mostly of seniors, disabled people who are still capable of doing some limited amount of work. Some of the people who make up this
registry will be volunteers; others want to continue to share
their skills, talents and abilities that made up their life’s work
days before retiring or becoming disabled and want to earn a
minimal income to supplement their restricted income. It
would be called something like “A RR Registry of Workers”
with such skills as carpentry, minor electrical work, plumbing,
landscaping or yard work, housecleaning, etc….
The third registry would be an expansion to an already
existing Sebastopol based service that provides transportation
to doctors’ appointments, renewal of prescriptions and grocery shopping. “My idea is to expand the transportation model
and get more of our seniors and disabled people out of their
homes so that once again they can share in the activities of the
community, such as meetings, golfing tournaments, parades
and other social events such as visiting friends, going to a
movie or other social activities. A major part of this “Social
Transportation Registry” would be to provide Docents for
some of the community’s important organizations, such as
expanding the already existent Armstrong Woods Docents,
provide small business counselors and advisors for our two
Chambers of Commerce, provide the historical society with
docents who could expand their oral and video histories, instructions or talks on the history of the Russian River, as well
as fulfill other needs in the community,” says Ernst.
The first of these three registries, the RR Volunteers
Registry Database, is almost to the point that Robbi thinks
after another four to six months the Committee that has been
formed to oversee and maintain it, will be able to do so without a lot of worry or concern. (continued to page 6…)
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July Events for Children from River to Coast Children’s Services
River Child Care Services presents: Water Safety IS Water fun.
Swim Lessons Return to west Sonoma County & the Rio Nido
Roadhouse Pool:
SESSION 1 July 6 - 9 at Rio Nido Roadhouse Pool
SESSION 2: July 12 - 15 at Rio Nido
Roadhouse Pool
Ages: 3 years old to adult welcomed to
participate!
Choose 1/2 hour classes starting at: 9:30 AM, 10:00 AM, 10:30 AM,
11:00 AM
Cost $8.00 per entire session
Sign up early for a preferred time because SPACE IS LIMITED:
phone: River to Coast Children's Services (RCCS) at 707.869.3613
or email: info@rccservices.org. Supported by the Russian River
Parks and Recreation Department and the Sonoma County Family
YMCA.
Summer Fun Carnival:
Parents and Child Care Providers: Join River to Coast Children's
Services for a Summer Fun Carnival at the Forestville Youth Park,
7045 Mirabel Road, Forestville.
July 22, 2010
10 AM to Noon
Bring a picnic lunch and have fun. It's FREE! Games, Crafts, Prizes
designed for younger children. For more information call River to
Coast Children's Services (RCCS) at 707.869.3613
Ongoing Activities from
River to Coast Children's
Services:

Children's Activities:
River to Coast Children’s
Services offers Kindergym Monday and Tuesday mornings 9:45 AM to 12:20 PM in
Guerneville at the Guerneville Vets’ Hall, located on the corner
of 1st and Church Streets in downtown Guerneville. Features
activities for children 0 to 6 years (accompanied by their care
givers). Suggested donation is $4 for one child and $1 for each
additional child and Family Child Care Providers, $5 per group.
For current schedule, call River to Coast Children's
Services
(RCCS) at 707.869.3613 M-F, 9 to 5 PM.

Community Resources:
River to Coast Children’s Services (RCCS) offers resources for
families and child care providers in west Sonoma County. Free
referrals for child care, help paying for child care for eligible families, low cost Car Safety Seat program, low cost counseling for
children and their families, children’s seasonal events, Kindergym twice a week in Guerneville, parent education workshops
and parent support group, emergency resources for families with
young children (underwritten by Community Foundation Sonoma County), resources and training for child care providers,
information on shopping for quality child care. RCCS is located
in downtown Guerneville at 16300 1st St. Call 707.869.3613 or
Volunteers, cont...
Valerie Hausmann and Linda Snow, have joined him to help
finalize the registration form, expand and grow the number of
people registered on the database as well as create a “to do” list
for the immediate future. “Valerie and Linda have been simply
wonderful. I was so frustrated working by myself, and I realized
that I was up against a wall and that I needed help,” says Ernst.
Currently the database of Volunteers has registered almost sixty
people, most of which are completely new people who have
not been volunteering prior to today. People want to help, they
simply need to be asked, so, with the Volunteers Registry Database, we have created a means to let producers and organizers
of events know that these people exist and simply need to be
contacted.
The Russian River Chamber of Commerce has been
vitally instrumental in helping the Volunteers Registry reach its
current level of success. From the first moment we introduced
the Volunteers Registry to Margaret Kennett, President of the
RR Chamber of Commerce, and to the Chamber, they immediately came on board and have become the vital leader ensuring
its success. The Chamber not only backs and supports the Volunteers Registry, they have allocated a prominent place for the
Registry on its website. Not only can people go to the Chamber
Website (www.russianriver.org) to learn
About the registry, the calendar of events when volunteers are
needed in large numbers, people can fill out the registration
form on the website and return it to the Chamber with the click
on their keyboard. Moreover, the Chamber has provided that
Staff Personnel Valerie Munthe will be the contact person in
the Chamber office who will oversee the administrative segments of keeping the registrations going out to the public on a
regular basis as well as inputting the data into the Chamber
website so that when different groups need volunteers for specific projects, they need only go to the Chamber website, click
the RRVolunteers Registry button, and get the information
and/or the names of specific volunteers necessary so that their
project or event will be more successful.
Currents
www.russianriver.com
Summer Reading Programs @ Guerneville Regional
Library
Wednesday, July 7 @11 am Summer Reading Program presents
Water Works Puppet Show! Puppet Company
“Images in Motion” presents an original puppet show
using a variety of beautifully crafted rod, shadow, and
hand puppets.
Ages kindergarten and up. Free!
Wednesday, July 14 @ 11 am Summer Reading Program presents Daffy
Dave! Do you love magic? Do you love comedy? Do you love magical
comedy and singing, too? Well, this is the must-see show for you!
Daffy Dave does it all! Ages kindergarten and up. Free!
Wednesday, July 21 @ 11 am
prises!
Summer Reading Finale! Ice Cream! Sur-
Ages kindergarten and up. Free!
ADULT PROGRAMS
Page 7
Art Exhibit @ Quicksilver
Sojourns
Paintings and Drawings by Louisa King Fraser
The Quicksilver Mine Co. in downtown Forestville presents
a solo exhibition by Santa Rosa artist Louisa King Fraser
beginning on July 9th. This show, Sojourns: Paintings and
Drawings 1988—2010, continues in the gallery through August 15th.
An Artist Reception for Louisa Fraser will be held on Saturday, July 10th from 4—6pm.
Fraser will also be present in the gallery to talk about her
work and travels on Thursday evening, August 5th beginning at 7pm.
The Quicksilver Mine Co. is located at 6671 Front St./Hwy
116, Forestville. Gallery hours are 11—6 Thursday through
Monday; the gallery is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
For more information call (707) 887-0799, or visit the gallery website at www.quicksilvermineco.com.
Thursday, July 8 @ 12:30 pm. Book Discussion group.
“Tenderness of Wolves” by Stef Penney. Bring your lunch! Free!
Blood Drive & CPR Classes
Blood Drive:
The Russian River Fire Protection District is sponsoring a Blood Drive on Friday, July 23,
2010, from 4:00-7:00pm.
The Drive will be held at St. Hubert’s Hall (behind the Fire Station). Please help us support
the Blood Bank by donating blood.
Call 707-869-9089 for more information.
CPR Classes:
The class will be held Tuesday, July 27, 6:00pm, at the Fire Station, 14100 Armstrong Woods Road, Guerneville.
You must sign up in advance by phoning Debbie Miller at 707/869-9089. $25.00 covers the cost of a CPR card
(the class is free). Teenagers are welcome!
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Page 8
Vacation Rentals, continued...
disproportionately affected by this ordinance.
While it is reasonable for the county to find
some way to prevent the few problem houses
from continuing to operate as nuisances to their
neighbors, we could only wish that they would
find a way to curtail all nuisance neighbors, not
just the handful that happen to be vacation
rentals.
The River area must stand up and
oppose this ordinance as it is constituted since it
will substantially reduce the number of visitors
to our area and thus negatively impact most of
the businesses here. Speaking up at the August
5 hearing is really important. Nic Pereira, of
Spa Dad & Son, (nic@spadadandson.com) has
taken a substantial role in speaking for the
vendors but he should have a lot of business
folk by his side. Herman Hernandez, of Frank
Howard Allen, has tirelessly worked on this
issue as well; we’d like to see other real estate
professionals join him.
Anyone who wants a copy of the next
proposed ordinance, which will be considered at
the August 5 hearing before the Planning
Commission, can email me at
Camille@rrgetaways.com. PRMD typically
does not post the ordinance until a week before
the hearing date.
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Special Events
For Detailed Events or Updates, please
visit our Website at
www.russianriver.com
 Live Music every night @ Main Street
Pizza, 707-869-0501
www.mainststation.com
 Live Music Every Weekend @ Rio
Nido Roadhouse. 707-869-0821
www.rionidoroadhouse.com
 Every Wednesday: Volunteers @
Riverkeeper Park, clean-up and
maintenance. Call Victoria Wikle @
707-865-2474
Currents
July 2010
27
4
11
VineMan
70.3
 July 4th: Guerneville Independence Day
Celebration! Www.russianriver.com
25
 July 18th: VineMan 70.3:
www.vineman.com
 July 31st: Fort Ross Culture Heritage
Day: www.rrparks.mcn.org/fortross/
 July 31st: Full VineMan,
www.vineman.com
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
28
29
30
1
2
3
Monte Rio
Fireworks
6
7
8
9
Guerneville
Fireworks
 July 3rd: Big Rocky Games and Monte
Rio Fireworks: www.mrrpd.org
 July 17th & 18th: Climb Aboard @
PCAM: 707-575-7900
Tue
5
18
 July 17th & 18th: Civil War Days
@ Duncans Mills,
www.civilwardays.net
Mon
March
June
 Every Friday for the Month of May:
Live music at the Highland Dell.
Call 707-865-2300 for details or log
onto the Chamber’s online Calendar.
 July 10th: Sister’s Bingo, “Oh Say
Can You” Bingo: Doors open @ 6pm,
Games start @ 7pm-9:30pm. $15/
card or $20 for two. www.rrsisters.org
www.russianriver.com
10
Sister’s Bingo
12
13
14
15
16
Mixer
17
Civil War Days
Climb Aboard
19
20
21
22
23
26
27
28
29
30
24
31
FT. Ross Culture
Heritage Day
Vineman
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
August
Korbel Champagne Cellars
Jamaica in July
Saturday, July 24
11am to 3:30pm
Specially selected champagne & food pairings
Special Discounts
Live Music by “Caribbean Connection”
$15 Admission, Champagne Club Members $10, logo glass included
Winery & Garden Tours throughout the day
CONTACT:
Korbel Champagne Cellars
13250 River Rd., Guerneville, CA 95446
707.824.7316
Advertising Rates:
Full Page:
$50/edition
Half-Page:
$25/edition
Business Card Size: $15/edition.
16209 First St.
P.O. Box 331
Guerneville, Ca 95446
For More information, please contact Valerie Munthe at
707-869-9000 or news@russianriver.com
Check us out on the Web:
www.russianriver.com
Like the Logo Images???
Posters are now available at the
Chamber Office for $5/ea. Choose
from individual panels or
four-in-one. Posters measure 11”x17”
Chamber Board & Staff
Opal Pullaro — Chamber Office Manager * Valerie Munthe — Greeter *
Susie Markell — Korbel Visitor Center * Julie Thompson — Korbel Visitor Center
Shirley Degerlund — Greeter * Laura Wigod — Greeter
Margaret Kennett (Fern Grove Cottages) — President
Richard Lester (Coffee Bazaar) — Vice President, Membership
Laura Wilson (Johnson’s Beach & Cabins) — Treasurer, Up With Downtown
Beth Rudometkin (Community First Credit Union) — Secretary
Valerie Hausmann (Booker Productions) — Director of Events
Stacy Jardine (Guerneville Cottage) — Board Member, Membership, Up With Downtown
Art Severe (101 Things To Do) — Board Member
Dax Berg (Sonoma Nesting Company) — Board Member
Jan Russell (Dawn Ranch Lodge & Roadhouse Restaurant) — Board Member
Buck Sierra (Nexus Organic Design) — Board Member
Kayte Guglielmino (Gene Gaffney Insurance) — Board Member
16209 First St.—P.O. Box 331
Guerneville, Ca 95446