Local

Inviting our LGBT Family, Friends & All Allies  
Hosted by Scotty King, LGBT Liaison, Rainbow Connection of the Sebastopol FUN Senior Center
Halloween, Thursday, Oct 31st  
Cost: Free
Please Register in advance.
Register online here. or Call 707-829-2440
When: 6:30 PM Meet outside the Senior Center.  
What: Wear a fun hat or costume! Dance to the best of the Halloween Dance songs!
(Monster Mash, Addams’s Family, Time Warp, Ghostbusters, I Put a Spell on You, Werewolves of London, etc)  
Then: 7:30 PM, we walk 4 blocks together to the Halloween Street Party on Florence Ave.
We will mingle, float, and parade through the crowds. We will find and dance to the glorious Hubbubb band. Wear something that lights up if you can. Please note that no drinks or food will be served. The Center will be closed when we meet at 6:30 PM. Bathrooms are available at the library.
“People tell me it’s the highlight of their year,” Patrick Amiot said.  Halloween on Florence Avenue is typically a huge west Sonoma County happening. “We expect anywhere from 8,000 to 10,000 people,” Amiot said. For several years, Sebastopol police and firefighters have closed off Florence to vehicular traffic for the safety of the kids and adults who swarm in to collect candy and see what sorts of zany Halloween fun the residents were hosting in their yards. See the fabulous works of art on Florence Street here.
Video: Patrick Amiot, Sebastopol California, Sculptor Florence Ave
Then: 8:30 (or earlier), Walk back and head home.

We will be bringing you into the exquisite home of a local LGBT household to view their collection of stunning artworks. Join us for lunch at the senior center, visit Alan Beckstead, the main collector of the art, then we visit a their West County elegant and distinguished home that’s filled with exquisite works of art.
20 FOLKS MAX, WILL SELL OUT, RESERVE NOW

What: LGBT Art Tour   
Date: Wednesday, October 16
When: 11:30 AM meet at the Harvest Cafe in the Sebastopol Senior Center
Then: 12:30 carpool to Art Tour at Alan, Danny and Steve’s place  
Tour: 1.5 hour   
Leave: To return to Senior Center at approximately 2:30  
Arrive: Back at senior center at approximately 3 PM  
Space is very limited, must register in advance. If you are a member and have a key tag, register online HERE, or call 707-829-2440
Cost: $35 for members, $45 for non-members, price includes lunch at the Harvest Cafe 

LGBTQI History: A Sonoma County Timeline 1947-2000
Mondays 6-7:30pm. Online via Zoom through SRJC LifeLong Learning. On Oct 14, we will be talking with Ruth Mahaney and others about the interface between Lesbian liberation and the Women’s Movement in SoCo in the 1970s. Please contact me to enroll in this FREE class and receive a Zoom link: cdungan@santarosa.edu

Are you LGBTQ+ and 50 years of age or older? Rural-living and low-income? The Sebastopol Area Senior Center is looking for focus group participants as part of a state-wide project focusing on the experiences of LGBTQIA+ older adults. Your participation will directly influence resources, services and policies to better support the LGBTQIA+ communities.

Email Scotty at scotty@sebastopolseniorcenter.org to potentially take part in this important focus group which seeks to amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ individuals who live rurally and are low-income.

The date is Saturday, October 5, from 1-3 p.m. at our Sebastopol Senior Center.
Participants must register and be approved ahead of time.

For more information, including how to participate in this focus group, please email: scotty@sebastopolseniorcenter.org or by clicking HERE

Sebastopol songwriter Anne Carol Mitchell aka Brightdarkdawn, who writes music inspired by ecology and conservation, is teaching a day-long, collaborative workshop with Pepperwood’s Education Program Manager, Holland Gistelli. The workshop, Nature as Muse: Songwriting with the Land, will take place at Pepperwood Preserve on Saturday, October 19th. 

Mitchell and Gistelli are providing a workshop to inspire connections with nature through artistic expression and discovery in the natural world. Gistelli, who has over 14 years of experience in environmental education, will lead participants on a hike where they will be invited to explore the extraordinary beauty of Pepperwood through their senses followed by a meditative journaling exercise. Mitchell will introduce participants to music derived from experiences in nature and guide participants to use their revelations in the natural world in the development of lyrics and songs. The focus on the workshop will be on discovery and the creative process, so all levels of musical and writing experience are welcomed. For more information, visit bit.ly/NatureSongwriting. 

“Pepperwood’s work and dedication to conservation through the arts are so important for connecting people to nature, helping them to go deeper than just a walk in the woods. Our workshop will be a place where people can not only take in the extraordinary majesty of Pepperwood, but also use artistic practice to cultivate greater presence with the natural world,” said Mitchell

Pepperwood, whose mission is to inspire conservation through science, is known throughout Sonoma County as a place that spotlights the arts and artists that work in environmental subject matter. Pepperwood’s Inspiring Connections with Nature Initiative includes seasonal shows in the Gallery at the Dwight Center for Conservation Science as well as outdoor sculptures prominently displayed on its property. As Pepperwood’s Gallery Director and Cultural Resource Coordinator, Ben Benson, has shared on Pepperwood’s website, “Pepperwood utilizes art as an aesthetic segue and as an emotional stimulus. The goal is to open people’s hearts so that they can feel more deeply the magnificence of Nature.” 

Workshop details:

Nature as Muse: Songwriting with the Land

Saturday, October 19, 2024

9:00am – 4:00m

$65 per person
Ages 16 and up welcome
Meet at the Bechtel House, Pepperwood Preserve 

2130 Pepperwood Preserve Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95404

Participants must sign up beforehand at bit.ly/NatureSongwriting.

Bios 

Anne Carol Mitchell aka Brightdarkdawn

Anne Carol Mitchell, MFA, is a composer and songwriter in Sonoma County who crafts music with the aim of awakening care and healing for the living earth. Her songs are reminiscent of folk traditions in the vein of Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell, and Buffy Sainte-Marie. Anne’s work celebrates the storied existence of the Earth in all its beauty, vulnerability, resiliency, and ferocity. Anne is a graduate of the UC Climate Stewards certification course and the California Naturalist program at Pepperwood. 

Anne’s most recent work in Sonoma County was the sold-out, queer art and ecology concert I’ll Show You the Night in partnership with the Robert Ferguson Observatory and the Arlene Francis Center. The event included the release of Brightdarkdawn’s new album I’ll Show You the Night.

Anne has shared the stage and studio with notable artists including Ani DiFranco, Jimmy Horn (Mr. December), Judy Grahn (a woman is talking to death), Peter Jaques (Brass Menažeri), as well as others. She has produced four albums of original songs under her name and under her new project name Brightdarkdawn. Listen to her latest releases at https://brightdarkdawn.com/.

Anne’s work as a teacher has included adjunct faculty at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, guest lecturing at New College of California, and Sofia University in the Women’s Spirituality and Experimental Performance Master’s programs. She has designed music curriculum for teenage girls and taught songwriting workshops at women’s retreats in Canada.

Holland Gistelli

Holland has over 14 years of experience in the fields of education and youth development, most of which has been dedicated to environmental education in Sonoma County. She has called both coasts home, from a childhood spent roaming the hills of Napa County to studying Psychology and School Counseling at the University of Connecticut. She is a firm believer in the multidimensional value of environmental education for all, and is passionate about connecting people with the natural world. Holland coordinates Pepperwood’s Community Education classes and hikes, manages our Students Conducting Environmental Inquiry (SCENIQ) and TeenNat programs, and is a certified California Naturalist and Climate Steward. In her free time she enjoys travel and camping, dabbling in art projects and gardening, and good meals with friends and family.