BLOGGER SPOTLIGHT
Music in the air
Published: Wednesday, Oct 10, 2007
Move over, Sopranos …
By CHERYL ARONSON
The crafty chicks of the Petaluma Craft Mafia have officially hatched. Though we’ve been quiet, until I could get the Web site done (www.petaluma craftmafia.com), I know many of you have already checked us out ... I can see the stats.
Several of you have already filled out applications for membership. A healthy sign for local arts and crafts in Petaluma.
Some of you are already hip to the Craft Mafia. I walked into Knitterly the other day and a young woman over heard me and another famiglia member talking and said, “Are you with the Craft Mafia?”
The original Craft Mafia was started by a group of really cool businesswomen in one of my favorite towns, Austin, Texas. They too started their group with a swell bunch of creative gals who shared mutual goals.
I’ve been a long time fan of these women and DIY indie businesses, and felt Petaluma could use a local support group for crafters as well.
Now I’m part of the famiglia. It's been a lot of work getting it together, but a lot of fun.
The goal of the Petaluma Craft Mafia is to support and educate ourselves and like-minded indie businesses about crafting, pool our resources and to spread the gospel about craft in the Petaluma area.
We share strong ethics and a deep respect and mutual love of DIY craft and fun. You might catch us pub-crafting around our favorite cafes in Petaluma soon.
We are hosting a trunk show and a few craft shows next year, and plan to take over the town with organized craft. Look for us in San Francisco with our sisters the San Francisco Craft Mafia at their Mafia made show.
We are currently accepting applications for membership, and would love to hear from like-minded crafters like you.
You don’t have to wear a zoot suit or memorize every character in the Godfather to become a member ... but it might help to brush up on your cooking, because our craft famiglia likes to cook and eat at our gatherings.
—Posted Oct. 1, 2007
The hills are alive ...
By SUZANNE MAGGIO-HUCEK
Fifty years ago a man had a dream. Robert Lutt, the director of bands from Berkeley High School, wanted to bring his young musicians up to the redwoods to play.
Since that time, Cazadero Performing Arts Camp has welcomed over 100,000 young musicians in their various camps to hone their musical talent under the shade of the spectacular redwood forest.
This past weekend the Petaluma Junior High Honor Band, accompanied by various Petaluma High School Band “mentors,” traveled by caravan up to Camp Caz for the annual Jumpstart in Music program.
Coordinated by our very own “Mr. Conductor Dude,” Preston Bailey, the camp was an opportunity for our budding musicians to participate in an intensive musical experience side by side with their counterparts from middle schools in Windsor and Sonoma.
In between there’s free time, of course, but not much. They pause to enjoy the fabulous culinary treats provided them by Caz’s able-bodied kitchen staff and even have time for a game of tug-of-war and capture the flag.
But most of the time they’re playing. And, to quote my youngest, “Even when you don’t think your lips can play anymore, you keep going, because you know you’re getting better.”
And get better they did. On Sunday, parents were treated to a concert of beautiful music, the very same music the kids could hardly play on Friday. Sitting in the open-air amphitheater under the towering redwood trees, the transformation was complete.
From the toe-tapping, patriotic “National Emblem” by Bagley to the dissonant “Dorian Rhapsody” by Borgo, the band performed beautifully, filling the woods with magnificent sound.
Music is alive and well in the redwoods and in our schools. Congratulations to Mr. Preston Bailey and thank goodness for the dream of Mr. Robert Lutt all those years ago. What a wonderful legacy for our young musicians.
—Posted Oct. 2, 2007
