Blog

Are you wondering who is still accepting donations for Sonoma County fire relief? Here is a list

This is a wonderful list! Everyone will need insurance involved, cleaning yourself after even smoke can be extremely hazardous to your health, due to various chemicals in the ash and debris. Do not clean anything by yourself. Your outdoor air-conditioning unit should not be run until a cleaning by professionals. The same is true for any exterior appliances you have. Power washing the exterior, any damage to trees and plants from ash are covered. And a reminder… Your insurance may pay for loss of use of your home, just for being in an area with unsafe air. You may be able to get payment for your amazing friends and family who have allowed you to stay with them. Ask your insurance compa...

Who wants to hear about the advantages of buying over renting? Few do. But those who do so early, could achieve the same benefits as those who start saving at a young age. Here is another interesting consideration when evaluating renting versus buying.

HARD TRUTH 1:

• At 1% interest, $1 million should be worth $ 1.35 million after 30 years of compounded interest, however at 5% that soars to over $4,3 million (pre-taxes)

• A $1 million property tied to 2% annual inflation should be worth $1.81 million after 30 years without any additional neighborhood/market appreciation.

Every Fall Sonoma County improves its roads by applying new pavement, overlays and sealers. It creates quite a commotion as many roads get closed down for the work during the day and there’s lots of traffic. But the result is worth it. Improving the roads is important to the local economy, tourism, and property values. Sonoma has been spending more and more on road repair since 2012. According to the county transportation and public works director, Susan Klassen, about $112 million has been spent since 2013. And recently the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a $28 million road repair project, part of a long term plan to save the roads.

In Sonoma, the harvest is already well underway and it’s time for Kendell Jackson’s annual heirloom tomato festival. But this year they decided to have a new kind of celebration that goes beyond their love of heirloom tomatoes – though fans of their tomatoes won’t be disappointed. Besides food and wine pairing which is guaranteed to please even the most discerning palate, there will be all kinds of educational demonstrations, from barrel making to cheese making, seminars on beehives, outdoor painting, and live music. They wanted to do something different this year, to “engage all the senses” capturing the bounty of the harvest. The event will take place on...

The Sonoma Ecology Center has announced plans to improve their Garden Park, located southeast of downtown Sonoma at 19996 7th Street East. The city-owned 6.1 acre park has experienced increased popularity and the Ecology Center is proposing a number of changes to their “Master Plan” which has not been updated in ten years. The Ecology Center along with its park is well known for protecting Sonoma Valley’s natural heritage by providing a model for sustainability, restoring habitat, and educating the community. Their update to their master plan is in the beginning stages of a first draft, which calls for several upgrades to the park facilities, annexing the Pauline Homestead,...

Celebrating Sonoma county’s winemaking heritage, the Valley of the Moon Vintage festival is a three-day event known for its popular “Grape Stomp”, a competition that brings to life an early tradition in winemaking. Originally grapes were crushed by having barefoot participants repeatedly stomp on them in vats to release their juices and begin fermentation, unlike today where a mechanized method such as a wine press is used. Take off your shoes and roll up your pants to experience what it’s like or watch others doing it on Saturday and Sunday, September 23-24 in the Sonoma plaza downtown. There will be three different kinds of stomps happening – the family grape ...

Have you heard about the Sonoma Plein Air Foundation? It started fifteen years ago as a way to help fund art programs in Sonoma Valley. They have an annual “Plein Air” festival in Sonoma every September, to raise money for local schools and organizations to help keep fine art programs alive. Going on this week from September 11th-16th, painters from all over the country are creating works of art outdoors, or as the French say “en plein air”. Thirty-five artists participate, many of them nationally renowned – given less than two hours to do a painting. Each artist will create eight to twelve new paintings during the week. And on Saturday there will be a free exhi...