Meanwhile in Graton... - December 2011

Santa Claus Is Coming!

Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus, along with entourage, will be available to hear Holiday wishes at the Graton Community Club at the corner of Edison Street and Graton Road December 18 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.  Snap the photo elf will take pictures of visitors with Santa for take-home keepsakes.  Sparkle Elf, Sizzle Elf and other dignitaries from the North Pole will be serving apple cider, home-baked cookies, various sugar plums and other goodies.  Santa’s visit is sponsored by the Graton Community Club and Graton Community Projects as a free community service.  Everyone is welcome, including pets, but all dogs must be on a leash so as not to frighten Rudolph.  

Santa needs your help so please bring a new, unwrapped gift for TOYS FOR KIDS to be distributed by the Graton Firefighters Association. 

Neighbors Helping Neighbors Helping Neighbors

The Stone Creek Zen Center pitched in to help out at the Graton Centro Laboral free clinic providing flu shots, blood pressure and glucose testing, acupuncture and massage, plus ayurvedic and herbalist services.  An event planned to take place in Centro Laboral’s lovely grounds was rained out 11/11/11, so the Zen Center next door hosted all but the salsa contest.  In support of the event were Jody James and Cairyl Gardner of Asyrah’s Garden, West County Health Centers, Cal Fresh, Santa Rosa Community Health Centers, Migrant Education Region 2, Community Action Partnership, the Dhyana Center, Verity, and NAMI of Sonoma County.  Shown below left are Linda Owens of the West County Health Center giving Carlos Lopez a flu shot.

Coats Needed

Shiela Reilly, English as a Second Language instructor at Centro Laboral asks for you help to keep the day laborers warm this winter.  Please drop off new men’s coats, gloves and socks at the labor center at 2999 Bowen Street Monday through Saturday 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. 

Craft Faire

The Graton Community Club Craft Faire was a “fun fund raiser,” says Dorothy Olsen, event organizer. Shown below are Greg Zirbel and Shirley Streeter, Dorothy’s sister from Willits, CA.  Shirley purchased a birdhouse from Greg that is an avian replica of the old club house, shown in the photograph.  Proceeds from the fair will pay for some needed repairs of the building that started life in the last of the 19th century as a chicken hatchery.  

Private Profit or Public Good?

The Graton Green Group (GGG) is happy to announce that more than 50 Graton community members have pledged monthly donations for five years to make the lease payments on the old firehouse site for a park.  It is expected that the site will go up for sale in December.  With the pledges in hand, the GGG hopes to persuade the Graton Fire Protection District to allow the community to make the purchase on a lease/option basis.  Buffy Simoni, Treasurer of the GGG, a non-profit organization with the sole purpose of creating a park in Graton, says, “We hope the district will let us keep the land in the public good, rather than selling it to a private party and losing it from public ownership and use.”

Happy Holidays Greaton!