Still here…But Focused On Other Things!

I have not posted on either of my blog sites for a bit so I thought I would let everyone know I am still around.

Must focus on things closer to home, etc., etc. Keeping the photo walks at home does present some new vistas to explore in our own landscape…!!!!

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Petaluma’s “Piano Man”

Visitors to Downtown Petaluma may encounter brightly colored pianos on downtown streets or placed in retail stores…

Some may even encounter a piano masterfully played by a man in a vest and bowler hat! The man, of course, is Petaluma Pete (a.k.a. John Maher)…

Personally, the best encounter is Petaluma Pete working on a “new” piano

For More Information about Petaluma Pete & His Artist Painted Pianos…Go to Sponsor Promo

For additional background information, check out these links…

RTP April 2018

Rebuilding Together Petaluma  (RTP) volunteers once again fanned out across the city this month to repair homes and public facilities at 10 locations throughout Petaluma. These efforts are supported and made possible by Wells Fargo, Ohana Construction, Save Energy Co, Sears Heroes at Home, Heffernan Insurance Brokers, Friedman’s Home Improvement, the Hillblom Foundation, Nova Group Inc, Audio Visual Design Group, and roughly 200 community volunteers!

I had occasion to visit some of the worksites and offer a few photos of the volunteers at work. 

My photo selection, as usual, is arbitrary and capricious!!

 

The Bolek Family

GALLERIES BELOW

Click On Any Image In Each Gallery To Open

 

 

 

 

 

Surprise for Paula!

I recently received an e-mail from historian Katherine Rinehart: “Paula Freund, Petaluma Museum volunteer, will be presented with an award for her work on the Portraits of Petaluma Pioneers exhibit. The award is from the California Council for the Promotion of History.”

“We thought you would like to join us in honoring Paula on Sunday, April 8th at 10 AM at the Museum. THIS IS A SURPRISE. Paula thinks she’ll be coming to meet me to discuss what she learned while visiting the Carnegie Archive at Columbia University.”

So I packed up some photo gear per Katherine’s request and arrived on scene!

  • Was Paula surprised?
  • Did everyone keep the secret until the appointed day?
  • Surely someone must have let it slip!

Judge for yourself…as Paula entered the room with Historian, Katherine Rinehart)…

I think it is safe to conclude that she was genuinely surprised!

Being the trooper that she is, Paula quickly recovered her composure…

The audience included Mayor David Glass, Council Member Teresa Barrett, and former  U.S. Representative for California’s 6th Congressional District, Lynn Woolsey.

Batteries Plus Bulbs? Really? But of Course!

When I first noticed Batteries Plus Bulbs  stores popping up in the North Bay I thought that it was a stupid idea. How can they survive selling batteries & bulbs?

Recently I was in search for another of those little silver coin style batteries–and followed the usual course of searching for them in battery racks in grocery and drug stores–you know, trying to read the numbers on the battery and then finding a matching replacement.

Last week I was in pursuit of a battery and could not find it.  To be sure I found a rack that had a place for the one I was looking for but it was empty.  So I thought, what the heck–I will walk around the corner to that stupid Batteries & Bulbs in Plaza North and search there…

I was genuinely amazed when I entered–It was quite a site and the service was immediate.

  • I did not have to search–just handed it off to one of the Technicians and she provided me with a replacement–at half the price it was in the store with the empty battery rack.
  • I looked around briefly and noted an incredible selection of batteries of all sizes and types as well as bulbs of every type and description–including car & truck batteries, which they also will install.

I almost felt like I was back in a RadioShack Store. Remember them?

As their web site says: “We are your one stop shop for Batteries, Light Bulbs & Repairs.”  Repairs include cell phones, laptops, and battery chargers.

I returned the next day with a rechargeable battery pack that needed replacement.  The technician found one but said she could make a better one with twice the storage capacity if I could wait a few minutes.   And so she did: Price $5.06–less than half of the official replacement battery but with twice the storage.

My visits were enlightening…In fact I got a real charge out of them. Going back in a few days to fulfill the rest of my battery needs!

While this post discusses the store in Petaluma, it is a national chain and there may be a store in your area. Heck,there is even one in Peoria, Ill !

Faces of Service–MLK Day 2018 in Petaluma

I invite everyone to take a silent moment to contemplate the employee volunteers (including family members in many cases) from Kaiser Permanente in Sonoma & Marin participating in this year’s MLK Day of Service at the Petaluma People Services Center and COTS Kids First Family Shelter.

 

Rebuilding Together Petaluma (RTP) coordinated and supported their efforts–which is how I came to be there with cameras at the ready! In this post I include selected images I choose to call Faces of Service.

Gallery

(Click on any image to open the Gallery)

VIEWER NOTE…

For a complete set of photos documenting the day go to RTP SmugMug