Petaluma Perspective by Houston Porter - May 2018
Affectionately nicknamed the
The Margulis concert starts at 7:30 p.m. on Sat, May 25, and gives music lovers an excellent opportunity to experience the beautifully warm acoustics of the museum. Margulis is a world-renowned virtuoso pianist who is currently based out of the City of Vienna’s Music and Arts University. Margulis’s performances are powerful and uplifting, with this evening’s music selection revolving around Scarlatti, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. His partner for the evening will be the legendary Henry F. Miller concert grand piano, built in Boston in 1899 and magnificently restored by JB Piano Company in San Rafeal, and currently housed in the Petaluma Museum. Margulis has a long history with this piano, dating back to his first performance on this concert grand back in 2009 at the Charles M. Schulz Museum.
I highly recommend joining the museum as a member in order to help keep this vital part of historic Petaluma oprn to the public for decades to come. They even have a reciprocity membership that includes admission to thousands of museums throughout the U.S., including the S.F.’s de Young, Legion of Honor, Walt Disney, and Asian Art Museum, as well as our local Sonoma County, Charles M. Schulz, and CA Historical Society Museums. Tickets are a bargain at $30 for general admission and $45 for limited balcony seating with elite beverage service. (Students are free.) Tickets include wine and cheese.
Petaluma Drinks! celebrates the tasting rooms and production facilities of all the great beer, wine, spirits, and cider producers in and around historic Petaluma, but tickets to this June 2 & 3 libation tasting tour will sell out early, so grab yours at now at petalumadrinks.com.
JOIN US to Get Ready for Spring & Summer FUN!
Join Friends of the Petaluma River on Sat, May 5, for the Spring 2018 River Cleanup to help remove trash and debris from the Petaluma watershed. Although this may sound like work, we have attended several of these river cleanups in the past and have always had a great time. Not only will you get to meet some great people, but you’ll get to explore some off-trail areas one might not normally visit. The cleanup starts at Steamer Landing Park (D & Copeland Streets) at 9 a.m. for registration and a safety talk. At noon, everyone meets back at the park for a BBQ lunch, and usually some live music and raffle prizes. www.friendsofthepetalumariver.org
Tolay Lake Regional Park will hold a Superb Vistas fundraiser on May 6, starting at 9 a.m. with an easy 4.2 mile hike where guests will learn about the history, flora, and fauna of the area, before attending a lunch and wine tasting next door at Keller Estate Winery. www.brownpapertickets.com
Petaluma’s Salute to American Graffiti cruise and car show returns on May 17–19, this year honoring our first responders and local heroes.
Petaluma Sunrise Rotary will once again hold their Backroad Challenge bike event on Sat, May 19. Beginning and ending at Penngrove park, after your choice of a 36, 65, or 100-mile route along the beautiful backroads of the west county, riders will enjoy some great food and drink to celebrate the day.
Also on May 19, the Great Petaluma Chili Cook-off, Salsa, and Beer Tasting will again be held at Herzog Hall at the Petaluma Fairgrounds. Having run the judging panel for this event for nearly a decade, I can attest that this is a spectacular food event.
The Writers Forum meets on Thu, May 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Copperfields Books with Rebecca Rosenberg presenting“The Devil is in The Details!” Guests are invited to bring a scene from their work in process (“wip”) in order to get tips and advice and how to make details speak for the characters and plot. Learn how props and surroundings make a novel and its characters “real” for the reader.
