Guerneville Groove by Beth Rudometkin - April 2017
Spring has sprung in our
Stewards of the Coast and Redwoods has volunteer opportunities at this year’s 44th Annual Bodega Bay Fisherman’s Festival being held on April 8th & 9th and also need volunteers for the 19th Earthday Restoration and Cleanup on Sat April 22nd. Go to their website stewards@stewardscr.org for more information. Do your part to restore and care for the places where we live, work & play for this and future generations! (CA State Parks Assoc). A fun and groovy event for all ages is the OceanWorks Production of Astronaut Lullabies at the SRJC Planetarium on Sun April 9th at 3pm. Check out the exploration of inner and outer space in a live concert journey / planetarium show! Tickets: oceanworks.eventbrite.com.
Not Too Sweet Sixteen Anniversary Celebration of the Russian River Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence will be held on Friday, April 14th at Main Street Bistro & Piano Bar. This is their annual Grants Giveaway, Saintings and Blessings ceremony. Thank you for all you give to our Community!
Have you seen the Guerneville School Garden? On Sat April 29th they will be having their School Garden Spring Celebration, with host Clark Wolf, along with a surprise Chef! This is a really groovy place for our children. Not only do they learn how to grow their edible garden, they also have an outdoor kitchen where they learn how to cook the food they grow and learn the importance of nutrition. Come check it out and don’t forget to sponsor a fence picket!
March 29th Town Hall Meeting at Guerneville School
There are two new new Facebook pages, Protect our Guerneville Gator Nation and Guerneville Solutions, created by local residents who wanted to give the discussion of solutions for downtown problems and homelessness along the river its own page. Discussions got long and involved on the Guerneville Up with Downtown FB page until the administrators of that page reminded people that the purpose of the page is for promoting and connecting Guerneville.
Gator Nation is generated by people at Guerneville School District who are concerned that children should have the safest possible route to and from school. This relates to how the County and a small group of local citizens are considering placing a homeless shelter within a quarter mile of the school, across the street from the Senior Center… on the way to Armstrong Woods State Park… in the middle of a residential area, with no services whatsoever! The concern is that the proximity of the property at 15015 Armstrong Woods Road will have a negative impact on the school, children, and the residential neighborhood nearby.
The second Facebook page: Guerneville Solutions, has been set up to specifically discuss potential solutions to the problems with offensive behavior downtown, as well as how to solve the homeless camps along the river before they come back in full force over the summer. High water and the Clean River Alliance did a great job of cleaning up these camps. Before people settle back into riverside camps again, our town is looking for solutions.
The search for a site for a rehabilitation and services center is definitely part of the discussion on both Facebook pages. And is a central part of the Town Hall on March 29th. It’s been suggested that we read the 2012 River Area Shelter and Downtown (RASAD) Task Group Summary so we can see what has already been studied by our community. So far a solution to both homelessness and offensive behavior downtown - which is mostly locals according to our sheriff – has eluded our community.
This column is being written before these scheduled meetings, as we have a press deadline to meet. I sure hope that I have much more pleasant news to report next month!
Keep involved groovy people! Keep your ideas for solutions coming and share them!
