Apple blossom festival 2016

2 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

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Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 3

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4 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

The 2016 Vintage Blossom Festival welcomes you Celebration of Vintage Blossoms

I

t’s a special time to remember what was happening 40 years ago as we celebrate our 70th Apple Blossom Festival and Parade.

Sebastopol was a much different community then however, this weekend, hopefully we bring back some of the memories of those years gone by. We will be celebrating the people and the nostalgia of an area we call home. The parade down Main Street will remind us of that coveted blossom and the people and the faces of Sebastopol. Whether you’re a kid of nine months or 91 years, who can resist the dogs on parade, the tractors, the floats, the bands, the antique autos and the quiet electric vehicles that have replaced them?

A lot of time and preparations have gone into this event, not just on our end but on your end as well.

You prepared your floats and costumes and lined your chairs up along the parade route bright and early in the morning. You’ve been practicing your band music and marching routines for weeks.

Plans have been made to meet your friends and family at the festival to share some games, sip some wine, check out the crafts and art and listen to some great music. Now it’s time. This weekend’s for you!

Andy’s is proud to help support the

70th Annual

Apple Blossom Festival Since 1964

Hwy 116 • Sebastopol, CA Open Daily 8am-8pm

Thank you to our many sponsors and volunteers who have made this possible. A special thank you to our first Presenting Sponsor, David Leff of Leff Construction. He sets the bar high every day in his work and now in his support of this event. On behalf of the Sebastopol Chamber and Visitor Center and the Festival Committee, this Parade and Festival is for you, Sebastopol. Please enjoy the weekend and thank you for sharing in our celebration of “Vintage Blossoms.”

Apple Blossom Festival Committee Linda Collins Gio Balistreri Lu Frazier John Pittman Teresa Ramondo

The 70Th annual apple Blossom FesTival is sponsored By The

seBasTopol area ChamBer oF CommerCe.

The oFFiCial program is puBlished in parTnership wiTh sonoma wesT puBlishers as an adverTising supplemenT To The

april 14, 2016 issue oF sonoma wesT Times & news ©

Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 5

2016 Apple Blossom Festival Schedule of Events Festival hours: gates open 10 a.m — 6 p.m. schedule saturday, april 18 7 a.m.

10 a.m.

1:15 p.m.

• Analy Boosters Pancake Breakfast Analy High School Cafeteria • Parade begins down Main Street • Parade awards at the Front Stage

sunday, april 17 gates open 10 a.m. — 5 p.m.

parade admission is Free • all parKing is Free all entertainment is Free with Festival gate admission Festival proceeds support the many year-round programs of the Sebastopol Area Chamber of Commerce with the additional support of our many volunteers, sponsors and members.

please, no pets at the festival. Thank you!

Admission: General .............................$12 Students (11-17) .................................... $8 Children 10 and under ....................FREE Sorry, no animals are allowed on the festival grounds or in Ives Park.

Parking is limited. Please respect private property and parking areas. see page 14 for complete music & entertainment schedule

Welcome to Sebastopol

The Sebastopol Police Officer’s Association wishes everyone a safe and enjoyable

70th annual Apple Blossom Festival

6 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

Festival art show hosted by second oldest art organization in county

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receives the most popular votes earns an award for the artist, and visitors’ comments and votes mean a lot to the artists.

The non-profit Art Workshop of Western Sonoma County was founded in 1965 and is the second oldest artist organization in Sonoma County. The group has continued to meet monthly in Sebastopol for 51 years, presenting guest artist demonstrations, figure drawing sessions, critiques by wellknown artists, paint-outs and networking opportunities. Meetings are open to the public for a $5 donation. The artists of AWS include professionals as well as beginners in a full spectrum of artistic media. The mix of old and new members contributes to the organization’s longevity and freshness, along with the support, fellowship and activities it provides to both novice and seasoned artists. The group is currently seeking new members and membership information will be available at the show.

Be sure to stop by the art show while you’re at the Apple Blossom Festival in Sebastopol this year. You will like what you see.

For more information about AWS, visit their facebook page or www.awsomeart.org.

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gallery lighting and expanded exhibit space.

AWS is proud to partner with the Sebastopol Center for the Arts and is grateful for their sponsorship.

The art show’s judge this year is Bodega Bay artist Jean W a r r e n .

Photo by Sebastopol Times Warren is an APPLE BLOSSOM ART — March 7, 1968, article in the Sebastopol Times accomplished shows Mrs. Jack Linch left , and Mrs. Gerald Jackson, right listen as Mrs. p r o f e s s i o n a l Donald Fluitt, pointing, explain technical details on one of her recent paintwatercolorist, ings. “Marin Barge at Bodega Bay.” All the women are involved in the plans with a B.A. in for the first comprehensive art exhibit in connection with Sebastopol’s Art Education. annual Apple Blossom Festival. The exhibit will be at the Veterans Memorial She has taught Building . art at the elementary and adult levels and currently Watercolor Society and the California teaches a watercolor class at the Watercolor Association.

The judge will give awards in the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. Her work is included in many public and categories of oil, acrylic, watercolor, corporate collections as well as private pastel, mixed media and photography, collections in the U.S. and abroad. as well as Best of Show and second Warren’s paintings have been featured place Founders’ Award. As always, the in numerous publications, and she is a public will have an opportunity to vote signature member of the National for their favorites. The piece that

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he 48th annual Apple Blossom Festival Art Show, an exhibition by members of the Art Workshop of Western Sonoma County (AWS), will open with a reception on Friday, April 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 S. High St. Admission to the reception is free, and wine and appetizers will be served.

The exhibition continues on Saturday, April 16, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday, April 17, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Entrance to the art show is included in the Apple Blossom Festival admission.

The Apple Blossom Festival Art Show has been a decades long tradition in Sebastopol. With more than 100 original paintings, drawings and photographs ranging from rural landscapes to experimental abstracts, there is something for every visitor and family to enjoy. Nearly all the artworks are for sale, and a section of the show features small artworks at very affordable prices. Visitors will have a chance to win a painting by last year’s top awardwinning artists by purchasing a raffle ticket.

This year the Apple Blossom Festival Art Show will be displayed for the first time in the Sebastopol Center for the Arts auditorium space. The AWS artists are excited to have this opportunity to show their artworks with professional

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Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 7

Thank you to the 2016 Apple Blossom Festival Sponsors rogers pool and spa russian river vineyards sebastopol Center for the arts sonoma west Times and news westamerica Bank ***** a hot Tub place, inc.

earthtone Construction, inc edward Jones investments/Tim moore/meredeth Bertacco Fairfield inn and suites marriott hansel subaru law offices of omar Figueroa north Bay Bohemian

sonoma County office of education ***** Bliss organic day spa Community First Credit union elephant ear systems Cottingham mortgage inc mac daddy repairs redwood Credit union redwood empire disposal r’s automotive west sonoma County uhsd ***** answering and mailbox Center sebastopol inn

8 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

Main Street’s Apple Blossom Parade begins at 10 a.m.

2016 Apple Blossom Parade Entries entries are listed alphabetically and not by order of appearance:

Analy Arts Analy High School Tiger Band Anova Art at the Source Bailey & Payton Ingram Brook Haven Middle School Band Burning Ice CAL Fire & Smokey Bear Canine Companions For Independence Chai Baba Chai Chan Orthodontics Chimera Arts & Maker Space Circus Waldissima Citizen of the Year Chief Jeff Weaver Community First Credit Union Cruisin' North Car Club Dachshunds on Parade Early Day Gas Engine & Tractor Association, Br. 31 Efren Carrillo, 5th District Supervisor El Dorado Door El Molino High School Band Farmers Insurance-Agent Antonio Trejo Flower Song Florist Forestville Academy & Guerneville Middle School Band Girl Scouts of Northern California Gold Ridge Fire Protection District Goldridge VFW Post 3919 Graton Community Club Graton Day Labor Center Greenacre Homes and School Guayaki Yerba Mate Gypsy Café Hansel Subaru Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery Hillcrest Middle School Marching Band Hopmonk Tavern Jaiyen Spa John S. Woo DDS K-Tech Automotive Lawrence Cook Middle School Band Leff Construction Presenting Sponsor Lindsey Arnold Living Earth Structures Llamas of the Wine Country & Llama Association of North America Mary Ann Reece Michael L. Murphy Mt. Gilead Bible Camp New World Ballet Noreen Evans for Supervisor Papas and Pollo Paradise Pet Resorts Peace in Medicine Pivot Charter School North Bay Redwood Credit Union Redwood Rainbows Square Dance Club Rincon Valley Charter School Marching Band Rotary-Changing the Face of Education Round Table Pizza Safeway Inc. Stage Sponsor Sandborn Tree Service, Inc. Science Buzz Café Sebastopol Firefighters FoundationCommunity Emergency Response Team (CERT) Sebastopol Area Senior Center Sebastopol Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center Sebastopol City Council and Takeo Sister City Visitors Sebastopol Farmers Market Sebastopol Firefighters Foundation Sebastopol Grange-Hub Bub Club

Sebastopol Apple Blossom Parade 2016

Sebastopol Hardware Center Sebastopol Independent Charter School Sebastopol Kiwanis Club Sebastopol Plumbing Sebastopol Troop 27 and Pack 128 Shoes 4 Kidz Slow Food Russian River Sonoma Clean Power Sonoma County Arabians Sonoma West Medical Foundation The Beep Boop Beep Robot Brigade The Diaper Wagon Tim Sergent for Supervisor Twin Hills Charter Middle School Marching Band Verihealth/Falck Northern California Weeks Drilling & Pump Company West County Health Centers West County Softball Association West County Transportation Agency West County Youth Football and Cheer Western Sonoma County Historical Society Whole Foods Market

Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 9

Festival flavors of spring and the vibrant collection of arts and crafts 2016 Arts and Crafts Vendors A Hot Tub Place Ambrz Art Aquamarine Artesanos Mariposa Barb's Wire Jewelry Bluezzeetees/Wear Your Love for Wine California Connections Academy Cheeky Community Market Cufflynx Cutco Cutlery Deja Mosaics Dom Chi Company Earth Temple Earths Sister Fabulous Faces by Linda Farm Fresh to You Fine Egyptian Art Hair Couture/Lula Roe Health Resolutions Treatment Center (ZAFIS Chiropractic,Inc).

Hudson River Inlay Island Goddess Jeeba Jewelry Jiduhuang JP Designs Leeba Li's International Trading Lobos Del Mar Malia Designs

Manzana Products Co. McDonald Ranch ME Designs NK Trends Ocean Heat Paihia Mosaics Paradise Pet Resorts Party Animals Peter Baily Designs Renewal by Andersen Sebastopol Regional Library Sensations by Sybil Sierra Jewelers Solar City Soleil Communications Sonoma West Medical Foundation Stop N' Paws Synergy Organic Clothing The Friends of Vintage Roses Tibet Creations Tropical Wood Expressions USA Bath Wild Heart Handmade Wine Country Photography Winning Soles Winning Ways LLC World of Sports Yaza Yeah!Yeah!PonyPrince Zeyma Collection

2016 Festival Food Vendors Acropolis Aunt Betty's Gourmet Corn Dogs BAR B QUE Smokehouse CaCoCo Flyway Favorite Hawaiian Shave Ice Hula Huts Russotti's Concessions Spice Affairs Thai Essence The Green Grocer The Wurst Three Twins Top That Yogurt Ultimate Souvlaki

2016 Wineries

Balletto Vineyards Dutton-Goldfield Winery Ferrari-Carano Gary Farrell Winery Geyser Peak Winery Hook and Ladder Winery Jackson Family WineKendall Jackson Avant Korbel Occidental Road Cellars Pedroncelli Winery Russian River Vineyards Taft Street Winery

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10 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

Leff Construction humble, happy presenter of Apple Blossom Festival by amie windsor Sonoma West Staff Writer

D

ave Leff is a man of few words.

When you ask him why he chose for Leff Construction to be the presenting sponsor of the 70th Annual Apple Blossom Festival, you won’t get a lengthy diatribe out of him What you will get is an answer that comes from a man who is deeply committed to his town, in which he raised his two daughters, was the president of the softball league and grew his business from the ground up: “It’s the right thing to do for the community,” Leff said. “One of our core values is recognizing our responsibility to our community and contributing as we can to it. This is another way we can do it.”

Typically as the presenting sponsor, Leff Construction’s name would be on all the posters and banners for this year’s festival, but Leff wasn’t keen on that.

“We’re more of a behind the scenes supporter,” Leff said.

Leff and his family have been behind-the-scenes supporters of the festival for years, ever since he coordinated the softball league’s volunteer efforts to empty the trashcans during the festival.

“We worked to keep the festival as free from trash as we could,” Leff said.

For years Leff has watched the parade. He recalls the days of saving seats on the side of Gravenstein Highway early in the morning with blankets and chairs and watching his daughters, Jenna and Caitlin, participate in the parade “either through band or softball.”

This year Leff will leave the sidelines and be in the parade himself for the first time, driving the flat bed truck for the Leff Construction float. The design company is building a playhouse they will tow during the parade.

After the parade the playhouse will be raffled off and given to a lucky community member.

“We thought about building a tiny house but then we wanted something that would be used in the community,” Leff said. “What better thing to use than a playhouse?”

Proceeds from the raffle will benefit an array of organizations in the community, according to Elaine Lucia, marketing director for Leff Construction.

“This is the way we’ve chosen to participate and give back to the community,” Lucia said. “It’s community, it’s family. It’s an important part of Leff Construction.”

Photo provided LEFF LOVES HIS COMMUNITY — “One of our core values is recognizing our responsibility to our community and contributing as we can to it,” Dave Leff said. “This is another way we can do it.”

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Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 11

Apple Blossom Festival

O’Reilly Media is proud to support the Apple Blossom Festival

oreilly.com ©2014 O’Reilly Media, Inc. The O’Reilly logo is a registered trademark of O’Reilly Media, Inc. 14309

12 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

TOMBE REALTY 61 Years • Established 1955

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Representing Sebastopol with Fairness and Integrity for 4 Generations.

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APPROVAL Client: Tombe Run date: 4-14-16 Ad title/slug: 1/4 page Returned approval due by: ASAP Scheduled to run in: Apple Blossom 2016 Please check this proof carefully for errors and omissions. Your signature below constitutes acceptance of full responsibility for all errors, omissions and legal and ethical compliance in this document. Sonoma West Publishers will not accept liability for errors overlooked at this stage of proofing. Any changes from your previously approved copy will be charged extra according to both time and materials. Advertiser agrees to pay appropriate rates and production costs as specified in the current rate card. All conditions of the latest rate card apply.

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Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 13

Find Your Way Around

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14 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

2016 Apple Blossom Festival music performance schedule SATURDAY, April 16

SUNDAY, April 17

FRONT STAGE

FRONT STAGE

1:45 to 3:30 .....................................Vintage Juke Box Orchestra

12:oo to 1:00 .................................................................Lara Price

4:00 to 6:00............................................................Highway Poets

1:15 to 2:45...........................................................Patrick Sweany 3:15 to 4:45 ....................................The Peterson Brothers Band

BACK STAGE 12:00 to 1:00 ......................Ophir Prison Marching Kazoo Band

BACK STAGE

1:30 to 3:30..............................................................Dustin Saylor

12:30 to 3:00...............................Spencer Burrows Youth Bands

4:00 to 6:00 .......................................................................Frobeck

3:00 to 5:00 ...............................................Mr. Music and Friends

Vintage Blossom blues, soul, swing, folk, rock and country

S

ebastopol likes to dance and the Apple Blossom music lineup is about to deliver. Two stages will be set with fantastic musicians for the weekend starting out on Saturday at noon. The Ophir Prison Marching Kazoo Band famously known for its fun antics, beer songs and unpredictable shtick since 1973 will set the tone for the weekend with lighthearted musical entertainment.

The band is a 25- to 50-piece ensemble with pep band-type instrumentation—woodwinds, brass and percussion—and the music they play encompasses a wide variety of genres. Outfitted in highly personalized “prison blues” and with tongues firmly in cheek, band members will tell you they're from Ophir Prison, an historic minimum-security facility tucked away in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Whatever

their true origins, though, they share a love of music, fun and showing audiences a great time.

Dustin Saylor will follow the band with his performance rooted in acoustic instruments and heartfelt lyrics. Saylor’s music brings a raw organic sound of Modern Folk, Americana and Bluegrass comparable to Mumford & Sons and since his last album release in 2007, it is said that his songwriting has deepened.

Staying true to the festivals vintage theme, the Vintage Jukebox Orchestra will be performing at 1:45 p.m. The band is a two to 12-piece swing era big band comprised of some of the finest jazz musicians in the Bay Area and is one of only a handful of professional big bands in the U.S. focused solely on the music of the Swing era. The group plays tunes made popular by the famous orchestras of Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Jimmie Lunceford, Fletcher Henderson and Artie Shaw and plays songs by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, just to name just a few.

Local band, Highway Poets are also joining the festivities with their eclectic sound, which has been compared to the likes of Neil Young, Crazy Horse and the Black Keys. They strive to push the barriers

Vintage Jukebox Orchestra

Highway Poets

The Peterson Brothers Band

of folk/country, R&B and rock music with fresh lyrics and a new take of an old form. The Highway Poets are a fine blend of American Roots and Soul music with modern style and edge.

Frobeck boasts a full lineup of bass, drums, guitars, keys replete with sultry backing vocals. The band is known to cover all the bases and is sure to get your blood pumping and your groove grooving as they close the musical lineup on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m. One of Frobeck’s main players, Spencer Burrows, leads the Spencer Burrows Youth Band and is known for supporting youth in music with his Great Burro Studios—Music for Rockers located in Sebastopol. The Spencer Burrows Band will be on Sunday from 12;30 to 3 p.m. featuring youth performing from ages 10 to 17.

On Sunday, Lara Price blesses the stage on noon and is known for her powerful vocals. Price discovered the power of music at the tender age of 6, when she started taking piano lessons in England with legendary 80’s music innovator Howard Jones. Her music is described as soul music with a vintage and retro feel.

The headliners for the music section of the festival will be The Peterson Brothers Band on Sunday. The talented teenage brothers — Glenn and Alex Peterson —hail from Texas and play old-school blues, soul and funk. They’ve performed at major blues festivals, shared stages with B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Lisa Marie Presley, the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Los Lonely Boys and Marcia Ball and are about to release their first album. The consensus is that they rock.

Frobeck

Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 15

Children’s Area creates classic exploration and new rides for the whole fam

by Krista sherer

Sonoma West Times and News Editor

T

he Children’s Area at the Apple Blossom Festival will have oodles of free hands-on activities for children of all ages. In the rose garden adjacent to Ives Park and the Sebastopol Center for the Arts building, Kids Area organizer Mitcho Thompson will work with children on different activities. Thompson said he is very excited for the vintage theme at the festival This year, in keeping with the theme, “Vintage Blossoms” there will be an old tractor, rotary dial phones, heirloom foods, science equipment and traditional apparel to not only look at but to touch and play with.

“The petting farm will also return, so anyone interested can even learn how to ‘pick up chicks,” Thompson said.

There will be guest appearances by special creatures such as Alex the Duck — returning for his sixth year at the festival. The magic tent will be there, as well as other fun surprises.

Thompson said his favorite part is watching young people have so much fun in an area that is really just for them. In the Children’s area at the apple blossom festival, there isn’t a “Do Not Touch” sign anywhere, he said.

“It’s all hands on and so there is a lot of learning by accident going on as

The Samba Balloon will be a new addition to this year’s rides and Mitcho and Alex the duck will return to the Children’s Area. well,” Thompson said. “Plus, we focus on the things that make Sebastopol and all of Sonoma County so unique.”

Fun and Games Rentals will once again be providing an entertaining mixture of rides at this year’s festival.

The company said there will be inflatable pieces for the older kids as well as

toddlers. There will be the well-known Tea Cup Ride, as well as the Trackless Train that runs through the craft area for the little one, which is always a big hit.

For the bigger kids, the Wrecking Ball will return as well as the large inflatable slide. This year a new ride

called the Samba Balloon will be added to the Children’s Area and is perfect for the whole family. With brightly colorful spinning baskets the ride spins and sweeps and oscillates up and down. The ride can accommodate children and adults.

16 Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016

The sweetest in Sebastopol: A look back at the Apple Blossom Queens by amie windsor Sonoma West Staff Writer

T

he Apple Blossom Festival is as sweet and old-fashioned as the Gravenstein apple it celebrates.

This year’s event — in its 70th year — looks back at festivals past, remembering what has been before.

The evolution of the festival is nowhere better represented than in the history of the Apple Blossom Queen. Queens and princesses were

selected by different standards and by a variety of judges. The first queens were originally school-grade girls.

Five-year-old Jeannie Crider was the first apple blossom royalty, voted queen in 1949. Sue Edwards was the winner in 1953, with Karen Valentine and Bonnie Staple as her attendants.

Unfortunately, Valentine wasn’t able to attend the ceremony, due to the measles. After the measles outbreak that year, there was no selection for the five years subsequently.

Later, the honor went to the high school girl who pre-sold the most festival tickets. In 1961, a talent show was instigated, judged by a panel of community members.

1965 saw the crowning of Valentine, who went on to become Miss Sonoma County and won a top 10 spot at Miss California. Valentine became an actress, starring in “Room 222,” for which she received an Emmy Award.

Kathy Hug served as queen in 1966 and Kathleen Skinner was crowned queen of 1969. The last queen, Jennie Rivera, was named in 1989.

Enthusiasm for the pageant waned and a transition was made to a scholarship and education program that

lasted for three years.

The crowning of the Apple Blossom Queen is one example of the festival events that have come and gone since its inception by George O’Keefe, a local realtor who organized the first festival. Called Apple Blossom Time, it was held over the last weekend in March and the first weekend in April of 1947. The Chamber of Commerce endorsed the event as a way to entice visitors to the area and to promote local apple products, especially the Gravenstein, which has been celebrated in many ways in Sebastopol.

Each year, whatever the venue or theme, the people of Sebastopol and outlying community have always offered their hearty support to the festival.

Photo provided by Western Historical Society QUEENS AND PRINCESSES — Pictured above is Mayor John Spooner in 1951 crowning Kathleen Fleming in front of the Chamber of Commerce building, to her left is Peggy Osborn and her right is Helen Inman. Pictured in the middle are Delores DeSilva and Margie Merrill celebrating the first ever Apple Blossom Festival in 1947 and pictured to the far right is, fiveyear-old Jeannie Crider was who was the first apple blossom royalty, voted queen in 1949

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Photos provided by Western Historical Society BLOSSOM ROYALTY— Pictured above, in 1947, is former San Francisco Mayor Robert Lapman surrounded by several Analy High School girls, from left to right, Marge Merrill, Elizabeth Korsmo, Delores DeSilva and Carroll Clark, who are presenting him with a spray of early Gravenstein apple blossoms in preparation for Sebastopol's first "Apple Blossom Time.”.

Pictured below is Apple Blossom Queen Kathy Hug on a parade float in 1968.

Apple Blossom Official Program | April 16 & 17, 2016 17

Gravenstein unites community in time of war; Sebastopol takes care of it’s neighbors

by Krista sherer Sonoma West Editor he Gravenstein apple knows that many hands make light work. From orchard owners, workers, canneries, dryers or markets, the simple little apple has made a big mark on the times gone by of West County. Part of this agricultural past, are the stories that connect the families and communities in a time of war and depression.

In the late 1800s, over 750 people of Japanese ancestry resided in Sonoma County at the start of WWII, primarily in and around Sebastopol and parts of Petaluma. The fertile land of Sonoma County was sought after by many, and Japanese families who owned orchards and dehydration plants worked the land while some owned commercial businesses.

The Taniguchi family, who was well known for their apple dryers, one on Bloomfield Road and the other on Bodega Highway, was one of the families who settled in Sebastopol.

Don Roberts, whose family has farmed apples in Sebastopol since 1902 said what is unique about the Japanese families in western Sonoma County is that after the families were taken away to internment camps in 1942, their neighbors took care of their properties and homes.

“They paid the rent, they paid the taxes, they harvested the fruit and anything that was made above the needed expenses; they put in a bank account for them when they returned,” Roberts said. “That is really unique about this area, not a lot of places did that.”

In a 2005 interview for an exhibit called "Giri: Giving Back - Going Forward" at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts (SCA), Rose Taniguchi Fujii recollected the Monday she had Japanese School and were told about the war.

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Shortly after, she and her mother and sister were ordered to the Santa Rosa railroad station, where they boarded a train that took them to an assembly center in Merced and then to a relocation camp at Fort Amache, Colorado.

Six months later the family was reunited at an internment camp in Crystal City, Texas, where they lived for four years. Mrs. Taniguchi, who died in 2005, remembered how their neighbors “Mr. Hotle and Mr. Hart” took care of the family’s ranch and home. Another neighbor stored their furniture and many of their belongings.

When they returned to Sebastopol, Mrs. Taniguchi was thrilled to discover that everything was in good shape and that their friend had also watched after their dog. “It was the first time I saw a dog smiling,” she said.

Being taken away was not just hard on the Japanese Americans, but also their neighbors. The late Barbara C. Wiebe, of Forestville said, “My memory goes back to when they were sent to camp.

The teachers loved their students. A teacher from Forestville, Mary B. Ward, and my mother went to visit them in a camp down in the valley. The families I know and still are in touch with are the Kunimoto family. They had a little apple dryer down in Forestville.”

Wiebe said she remembered that her church minister, Fern Raymond, had taken the side of the Japanese and said it was wrong and unfair to put them in camps. Some of the churchgoers didn't like it and Raymond got a hate letter in the mail, she said.

Martin Lorenzo, who died in 2008, recalled, “It was 1942. I was 13 years old. It was just like yesterday. It was in March that they took all the Japanese people to Santa Rosa at the railroad station. We were all friends. The Marita family had a

Photo provided by Western Historical Society GOOD APPLES — Circa 1920s, a large group of workers stand in front of the Taniguchi fruit dryer in Sebastopol

berry ranch in Sebastopol. My mother used to pick berries. I helped my mother. Before the Maritas left for camp, they leased the ranch to my mother and father. Then we moved on the ranch and my parents took care of it.”

Lorenzo said that his family gave them a certain percentage of the receipts, had a bank account with the Bank of Sonoma County and deposited money for them. They had quite a nice bank account when they got back from camp, he said.

“We were all glad to see them back—me and my oldest sister, Carmen (Kozlowski), my brother Henry and youngest sister Ann. In those days the families were raised pretty tightly. It was so sad to see our classmates being disrupted and taken away from the area. It was kind of a sad day for all of us and, more sad, I'm sure, for them,” said Lorenzo.

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