Occidental Oriented by MacKenzie Nekton - August 2017
Oh, late summer! I missed the birdsong and the old men grumping at me at 7am. Oh yes, as of the time of writing, the Grove is in full swing, and every day I don the ugly red smock and say “sir” like it’s the only word I know. It’s not so bad though, because this year I’m a server, and I don’t start work until 6:30am and not at 5:30am like I did as a busser. Also, I don’t have to marry Tabasco sauce. That’s another big improvement.
The next exhibit at the Occidental Center for the Arts is called Sea Creatures, and it will be up from August 4th to October 1st. The show will feature sea creatures real and imagined by Sonoma County artists. The gallery is open Fridays from 11 am to 6:30 pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 11am to 4 pm, and during Occidental Center for the Arts events or by appointment. If you go to the gallery from 4 to 6:30pm, then you can enjoy the art while wine tasting!
If the end of summertime has you wanting to get outdoors and get your hands dirty, then you should check out Garden Volunteer Days at theOccidental Arts and Ecology Center. The days are every Wednesday from10am – 5pm, and you can go for part or all of the day. At 12:30 there is a volunteer lunch that OAEC chefs prepare that is always organic and vegetarian. If you’re going to go, bring a hat, sunscreen, extra layers or rain gear depending on season, sturdy shoes and water bottle. Feel free to bring your kids, but make sure they can participate in adult work, and please supervise them. You don’t even have to register beforehand unless your group is larger than six.
If you’re feeling like you want to get active, but the thought of exercise sounds less than awesome, then you should check out Zumba on Tuesdays from 9 to 10am at the Occidental Community Center! It’s taught by Katie Evenbeck, the director of St. Dorothy’s, so you know that everyone, including the teacher is there to have fun, and not just sweat. Plus, it only costs $5 per class, so you (and I) should probably go.
Speaking of going… I’m headed to Boston to attend Northeastern University this fall, and I need to give up my column. While I’d love to keep writing on Occidental’s behalf, since I will no longer be living on this coast, I feel I perhaps should not. Therefore, I am officially asking anyone who is interested in writing this column to email Vesta Copestakes at vesta@sonic.netto let her know you are interested. I hope that if you have an inkling that writing a monthly column might be for you, you’ll decide to give it a try. It’s been such a pleasure to write this column and I couldn’t be more grateful to Vesta and the Gazette staff for making this possible for me. I’ll talk to you next month, and save the longer, sappier goodbye for then. Until that time, enjoy the last weeks of summer!
