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Saturday, June 12, 2010 PLAN Lasagna Dinner
Another annual fundraising event has come and gone - with very fond memories. This year marked our 5th annual homemade lasagna dinner and silent auction at the historic Petaluma Women's Club, and we raised almost $3000. Our diners enjoyed lasagna and the musical talents of Steve Dudgeon, early evening jazz piano, featured entertainers the easy leaves with Sage Fifield and Kevin Carducci, and late evening tunes of Chris Matthiesen on ukelele with progressive vocals.
The City of Petaluma's Mayor, Pamela Torliatt, took time from her busy schedule to join us, along with Petaluma City Councilwoman Teresa Barrett and former Mayor of Rohnert Park, Tim Smith. We especially enjoyed the mix of support this year - with visitors from all around Sonoma County and also within our community of Petaluma.
Honestly, one of our goals this year was to be sure we served HOT lasagna to every diner, and with a committee of 4 in the kitchen to ensure our plan for this, we declared success at the end of the evening. Also, Janie Castles of Petaluma donated a delicious homemade pesto lasagna to add to our PLAN chefs' creations, for which we are grateful.
Our silent auction was very successful this year. We'll continue to try and provide appealing and useful items that people want to take home, items that support our local Petaluma and Sonoma County businesses, artists, ranches and farms, as well. Donors for our silent auction included McEvoy Ranch, Barbara's Bakery, Amy's Kitchen, Peter Lowell's Restaurant in Sebastopol, Trader Joe's, Osmosis Day Spa & Sanctuary in Freestone, MUSE styling salon, Ron Spinhoven, Melissa McCann, Marlie DeSwart, Mary Jo Jacobs, Jeanne Moon, Elizabeth Farrar and Carolyn Maloney.
A new feature for us this year - which we'll continue next year - as everyone seemed to love it - was our raffle. Donors included Jennie Low's Chinese Cuisine (Jennie's family are supporters of many conservation efforts), MoYo Frozen Yogurt, Petaluma Cinemas, La Dolce Vita Wine Bar, Bunker Sonoma Mountain Vineyard, Lagunitas Brewery, and The Seed Bank in Petaluma.
Our diners also enjoyed contributions from our long-time supporter, Whole Foods Market, as well as from Greenstring Farm, Sift Cupcakery in Cotati, and Petaluma Coffee & Tea Company. And Cal-West Rentals provided supportive equipment and supplies.
We were pleased to offer a selection of fine wines this year from Sonoma County vintners who support sustainable agriculture: Bunker Sonoma Mountain Vineyard, makers of the award winning Black Goose Wines (www.blackgoosewines.com ); thumbprint cellars in Healdsburg whose processing is vegan and eco-friendly (www.thumbprintcellars.com) ; and Ceja Vineyards in Napa, a vintner deeply steeped in Mexican-American traditions with a very special connection to the land and process of grape growing (www.cejavineyards.com).
This year, P.L.A.N. began another new tradition - conservation awards. Pelican Art Gallery in Petaluma provided complimentary framing for our two awards. Read about the first annual Badger Spirits awards in our News section.
To all who came to our 5th annual fundraiser and dinner, we thank you! Please mark your calendars for next year, about same time and likely same place. Your support means so much to us. P.L.A.N. is an all volunteer, grassroots conservation and community organization. All of our proceeds go toward research and education to help protect open space, wildlife habitat and rural land. We also advocate for and support sustainable agriculture with an eye to balancing habitat-agriculture interfaces.
To Lasagne and open space!
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