Penngrove Station by Lyndi Brown - May 2017
Penngrove Market looks terrific with fresh construction and a great barn red paint job with white trim. Clean new windows are sparkling. Word has it that several local couples plan to open a café and fresh, local foods market, with a sometime-in-July ballpark date. It’s been two years since the Great Fire of May 7, 2015 closed the market. A re-open can’t happen soon enough!
Get Rid of Cooking Oil, don’t put it in the landfill, or heaven forbid, down the drain. I took mine to the Willowbrook Ale House parking lot. At the back, there’s a collection thingy. Just open the lid and pour it in. Now, don’t you feel better? It’s at 3600 Petaluma Blvd N, Petaluma. Then, treat yourself to a burger.
Backroad Challenge – May 20 Registration is open for the 2017 Backroad Challenge and you can sign-up online. It’s your chance to ride one of three epic Wine Country back road routes that will take your breath away and test your resolve. The ride starts and ends at Penngrove Park, 11800 Main Street. Your reward is a delicious BBQ at the Backroad Festival. You can sign up for the Half-Metric, Metric or Century rides, ranging from 99.54 to 35.52 miles. Go to www.backroadchallenge.com for all the details. The website even presents elevations.
Who’s That Knocking at the Door? Our neighborhood and Nextdoor is abuzz about door-to-door salespeople who offer a lower rate per therm on natural gas, than PG&E. If you’re interested in transferring to them, they will want to see your PG&E account number. It’s up to you, but keep in mind….PG&E infrastructure is still used, even if you buy the gas from one of the 25 gas companies called Core Transport Agents (CTA) who sell gas to PG&E. Here’s a list of them in a shortened tinyurl web link:tinyurl.com/PG-ECTA. Customers should know the “charge per therm” from PG&E is a bundled rate that includes the gas commodity and transportation costs, whereas the CTA’s price is only for the gas commodity cost per therm.
Some solicitors have clipboards or nametags with the PG&E logo, or imply they are working for PG&E. According to Deanne Contreras, PG&E spokesperson, PG&E’s policy is to call you before sending a worker to access your property, home or meter. The worker will have a legitimate name badge. Customers always should ask to see identification before allowing anyone claiming to be a PG&E representative inside their home. PG&E employees always carry their ID and are willing to show it to you. If a person claiming to be a PG&E employee has identification and you still feel uncomfortable, call PG&E’s customer service line at 1-800-743-5000 to verify an appointment and/or PG&E’s presence in the community. If you feel threatened in any way, notify local law enforcement immediately. Try to get a license plate number. A separate issue going on: It is criminal to impersonate a PG&E worker to gain access to a home for criminal purposes. Call your law enforcement if you suspect someone is checking out your home.
Finding History Day, May 21 – Free! Discover and celebrate the hidden treasures held in the many historical archives within Sonoma County! History groups are gathering at the DeTurk Round Barn from 10 am to 2 pm to showcase their collections and events. You’ll enjoy free admission – and who hasn’t always wanted to visit the DeTurk, at 819 Donohue Street, SR? There will be Mini-workshops, Book Signings, Presentations and Tours of local SR historical sites and archives. Petaluma organizations who will be represented include the Petaluma Museum Association, the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society and the Petalumans of Yesteryear. They will be joined by 25 other historical societies, libraries, museums, and 8 local authors, 3 speakers, conservation/preservation workshops and lots more. Download the Finding History Day flier
