Burbank Farm's Open House & Ribbon-Cutting!

(Author's Note: Edited 5:12 pm 04/28/2009 to correct link to Western Sonoma County Historical Society.)

This morning I journeyed down to Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Farm in Sebastopol, Sonoma County, Northern California to help out for a couple of hours as a docent leading tours.

The annual "Apple Blossom Festival" takes over the town this weekend and includes a parade through town, a carnival downtown and many other festivities. Each year at this time Burbank's Farm holds an open house and plant sale bringing in much-needed funds for the support of the Farm.

This year marked a special event as the new parking lot for visitors made its debut at a ribbon-cutting ceremony this morning. The parking lot has long been a dream of the Farm Advisory Committee that's taken quite a few years to become a reality...

There has been no nearby parking for visitors since the restoration of the Farm began in the early 1980s and I like to think that I played more than a minor part in its realization.

About 4 years ago, I just happened to run across an article in the local newspaper about a local paving contractors' association (the "ECA" -- the Northern California Engineering Contractors' Assoc.) that was donating labor and equipment to pave a parking lot for a small, local park in a nearby town. I copied the article and presented it to the Farm Committee who had just completed the preliminary plan for a parking lot at the Farm which they estimated was going to cost approximately $35,000 (the funds for which would have had to have come from especially-solicited donations).

When I inquired several months later if anyone on the Committee had pursued the lead and contacted the EPA, no one had but I insisted (even in the face of comments like "Oh, I don't think they'd be interested in the Farm") and kept mentioning the possibility at all of the monthly meetings for several months after that.

Finally, early last year, a couple of Farm Committee volunteers DID make inquiries to the EPA, got the Farm put on their list of potential recipients and the result culminated today in the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the completed new parking lot -- ALL of which (materials, labor and equipment) was donated by the EPA!

I took the following shot a couple of months ago when work first started on the parking lot:

And here are a couple of shots that I took today of the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony:

Next, a couple of long-time volunteers, Mel (left) and Steve (right) involved in a discussion before the ribbon-cutting:

Next, another long-time Farm volunteer, Fred, expounds upon his record-breaking gopher-hunting techniques to two Farm visitors:

Here is a table of plants that were being offered for sale at the open house this morning:

New volunteer Anna looks over some more plants being offered for sale this morning at the open house:

The open house and plant sale at the Farm continues through tomorrow...

For more information on Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Farm and its parent organization, the Western Sonoma County Historical Society, in Sebastopol, Northern California, see their website at:

http://www.wschsgrf.org

From the ole singlewide here in the wild hinterlands of Sonoma County... 'Til next time --

luv,

jean