01/27/2009
Winter 2009
A SEASON OF CHANGE FOR ALL
At this writing it is the Inauguration of our 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. Just as our nation and communities anticipate the changes in this President’s term of office, Friends of the Napa River is anticipating what will change and develop for our organization and community in 2009.
In this issue we present an overview of our projects that have special funding from grants and contributions. In addition there is a list of the volunteer activities that have minor expenses funded by member contributions and our general fund.
Our Board of Directors encourages all members to consider the projects and contact us with any questions. We especially welcome anyone who would like to volunteer for any of the activities and projects!
Friends of the Napa River will continue its involvement with the City and County of Napa’s Environmental ImpactReviews. The Board of Directors has a focus group that will share the responsibility of reviewing new developments and their impact on our watershed and river.
Board Vice President, Tim Yarish, gives an update on our projection for the 2009 River Festival. There are many changes surrounding the foundation and operation of this beloved community festival. Inside we also want to call attention to the many dedicated folks that supported our 2008 River Festival.
At the end of 2008, Friends of the Napa River said goodbye to two of our most dedicated members: Dr. Herbert Waechtler and Al Edmister. We honor their support with a few words that express our deepest appreciation.
In the months ahead we will be continuing to enhance our communications with our members through our website, email correspondence and community events. We welcome your suggestions and input!
To contact our Board of Directors please call 707-254-8520.
We wish you the best for 2009 and look forward to working with you as we continue our commitment to the conservation and restoration of the Napa River.
RIVER FESTIVAL 2008 AND 2009
By Tim Yarish, Vice President
River Festival 2008 - The River Festival on August 31st, 2008 was a success on all levels. Thousands of people enjoyed the new Veterans Memorial Park to hear the Napa High School marching band, a jazz combo and the Napa Valley Symphony.
The Festival was enthusiastically supported by many of the local businesses and wineries and dozens of volunteers helped to pour wine, run electrical cabling and more. In the end, Friends of the Napa River raised most of the money needed to support our general operations for a year. A job well done by everyone!
We especially acknowledge our chief organizer, Francie Winnen; and underwriter, Dey L.P. Dey has been beyond generous in their support of the Festival in funding and volunteers.
River Festival 2009 - We look forward to another magnificent Festival in 2009. As we begin our planning we take into account our challenges and opportunities. Our largest benefactor, Dey L.P., will be leaving Napa this year. This will leave a significant gap in both fundraising and volunteer efforts for the planning and the hosting of the event. We are happy to report that several local businesses have committed financial and networking support. Together with our community, these businesses consider the Festival to be a very important part of the celebration of the Napa River and the new River Walk which has transformed the heart of the city. This year we are exploring new collaborations that will broaden the support base of the event and we’ll be inviting more people to volunteer which will create new opportunities for you! To volunteer or contribute to this year’s River Festival, contact Shari Gardner or Tim Yarish through the Friends of the Napa River office: 254-8520. We look forward to your help as we deliver the City of Napa’s most celebrated event. We thank you in advance for joining our fabulous team!
We thank the generous sponsors and volunteers that helped make the 16th Annual River Festival in 2008 a great success!
Event Underwriter, $20,000
Dey L.P.
Platinum, $5000
Build Group, Inc, Channel Properties, Ledcor, Napa Redevelopment Partners LLC/Altamura Enterprises, Napa River Inn, Triad
Gold, $1,000 and above
Gasser Foundation, Bounty Hunter, Angele, Celadon, Cello & Maudru Construction, Downtown Joe's, Holly
Hulburd Design, Silverado Garden Club, River House Land Company LP
In-Kind
ZuZu, Upstage Productions, designThis!, Napa Valley Register, Beringer Vineyards,
Huffman Communications
Silver, $500 and above
Charter Oak Bank, Gordon Huether
Wine Donations
Acacia Winery, Beringer Vineyards, Caymus Vineyards, Mark Couchman, Cuvaison Winery, Ehlers Winery, Emilios Terrace, Etude Wines, David & Elaine Freed, Frogs Leap, Hagafen, Heitz Wine Cellars, Hall Huffsmith, Joseph Phelps Vineyards, Bill Loeffler, Markham Vineyards, Orchard Creek Vineyard, Paradigm Winery, Parry Cellars, Stephen & Sue Parry, Pine Ridge Winery, Raymond Vineyard & Cellar, Robert Biale Vineyards, Robert Mondavi Winery, Kent Ruppert, Saintsbury, Silverado Suscol, LLC, Silverado Vineyards, St. Clement Winery, William Hill Winery
In Kind
Wolf Electric, Rental Solutions, Tom Fuller, Squalicarti Studio
Bronze, $150 and above
Community Foundation (Walton), Napa Sawyer Properties, Coombs & Dunlap, Friends of Noreen Evans, David Garden, Heitz Wine Cellars, Napa Community Bank, Susan & Graeme Plant, Ray Sercu, Warren & Ginny Simms
Friends $50+
Herb Waechtler, Charles & Maria Boque, Churchill Manor, Greene's Cleaners, Ed & Marie Henderson, James & Nancy Henry, Sybil Hinkle, Ken & Jane Imrie, Lorrain Kongsgaard, L.L. Mazzaroppi, Robert & Donna Hall-Mertz, Stephen Orndorf, Hugh & Margaret Reat, Virginia & Thomas Rue, Joseph & Iris Sabella, Carl Schetter, Allison & Nancy Schleicher, John & Sarah Stephens, Nancy Tamarisk, Jill Techel, Deborah Tonella, Brad Wagenknecht, Jean Baker Watkins, Friends of Wiggins, Robert Zeller
Event Committee: Francie Winnen & Shari Gardner, Co-Chairs, Myrna Abramowicz, Richard Aldag, Stuart Atkinson, Leslie Barnes, Moira Johnston Block, Karen Bower-Turjanis, Harry Cadelago, Barry Christian, Charlotte Converse, Karen Frost, Tom Fuller, Gary Hall, Jim Hench, Bernhard & Ursula Krevet, Annie McCallum, Arvis Northrop, Laurie Puzo, Wolf von Reitzenstein, Karen Rippey, Kent Ruppert, Mick Salyer, Greg Winnen, Tim Yarish
Volunteers: Joe Anderson, Karin Ashford., Roger & Susie Ashlock, Dale & Betty Berry, Judy Buffington, Hema Chandranatha, Barbara Converse, Gary Converse, James Converse, Karen Cundiff, Mike & Pat Delmage, Mel Engle, Dave Finigan, Laurie Fjord, Jim & Julie Gaul, Tim Gee, Janie Gonie, Justine Hall, Niki & Gary Hall, Don Huffman, Dawn Irvine, Michael Jacobs, David Jackson, Eve Kahn & Ed Estin, Kim Kocher, Jim & Sharon Krider, Nancy McCanlies, David & Mary Ann Moffitt, John & Linda Miller, Rose Muellner, Tony Nargi, Ashley Norris, Tom Polsinelli, John Putnam, Katherine Reasoner, Cecilia Rodrigues, Paul Rogers, Darlene & Ray Scott, Wes & Chris Scott, Carl Shellhorn, Ginny Simms, Barbara Stafford, Chuck & Carol Svendsen, Matt Tillimon, Tom Trzesniewski, Kathy Verano, Gary Walker, Gail & Ray Winnen, Coast Guard: Joe Bayle, Juan J. Benauidef, Robert Kopser, Steve Loitsch, Duncas McAndrews, David McCallum, Peter Meacham, Sea Scouts: George Dernohan, Douglas Love, Patrick Walsh
A Tribute to Herb Waechtler
By Moira Johnston-Block
Herb Waechtler, one of Friends’ earliest and most loyal Board members has left us. One of the Napa community’s most respected and beloved physicians since he arrived here in 1952, Dr. Herbert Waechtler died on December 7, 2008. His death has left a great hole in the entire Napa community, a hole that, for those of us lucky enough to have known him well, is now being filled with rare memories of a great man, a great citizen. He simply never stopped giving.
I thought of Herb this morning (the day before Inauguration), as my husband Lee and I joined a throng of volunteers to do a City cleanup for the national day of service. Herb was always the first one there as a volunteer for Friends’ Napa River cleanup days, eager to do whatever needed doing, as appreciative former Friends board member and volunteer office manager Judith Sears confirms. At board meetings, she recalls, “he took such good minutes I often had to check mine against his!” – a legacy of his famously meticulous medical notes.
Herb cared for the wounded Napa River as he cared for people and his community – by giving everything he had to make them better, healthier. He was a tireless volunteer for the Flood Project, Measure A, which is now restoring both our river and downtown Napa to health and vitality. Even after he retired from Friends, he turned up at countless river-related hearings, forums, lectures, his very presence lending support to our causes. And it occurred to me today, as I picked up litter along a bikepath, that Herb’s turning out for every cleanup day was, in a way, the equivalent of the tireless day-or-night house calls he was famous for. How blessed we were, as a young group, to have him join us in the mid-1990s.
What drew Herb to Friends of the Napa River? In addition to his round-the-clock dedication to his patients, he was already past-president of a half dozen of the Valley’s most active community service and health organizations. I may have twisted Herb's arm a bit to join us, knowing what a gift his stature, commitment to service, his love of nature -- his passion for tending nature’s garden as well as own -- would be to our “Living River.”
Nancy McEuen, a retired nurse who did much volunteer Friends staffing with Herb during the hectic Measure A years, thinks the answer to why may be “His devotion to community. He wanted us all to have a better place to live. I don’t think Herb had ‘no’ in his vocabulary.” And though Herb became a leader in health services for seniors, “He was an advocate for youth and wanted the community to support opportunities for kids,” says Nancy. By the time he retired from Friends several years ago, Napa’s youngsters were fully involved in restoring creeks, volunteering for cleanups, and becoming river stewards of the future.
As this nation begins a challenging era that is calling us to service, sacrifice, and personal responsibility, I think again of Herb Waechtler – of how he lived his entire life to those high humanistic principles. He never sought acclaim, only an opportunity to serve, to heal. He would have loved this time. Thank you, Herb.
FONR sends condolences to Dr. Waechtler's wife Elaine and family. We are grateful to the Waechtler family for including FRIENDS OF THE NAPA RIVER in a list of suggested recipients of memorial contributions, if any wish to make one.
Remember Al Edmister
By Bernhard Krevet
It is with sadness to report that our longtime member Al Edmister passed away November 1, 2008. A brain tumor was incurable. We remember him as a very active member with many interests. His almost singlehanded efforts to save the old First Street stone bridge crossing Napa Creek remain unparalleled. Even though the bridge could not be saved in its entirety, all the stones of the bridge were individually marked and documented and stored at a safe place for future reincarnation, thanks to Al.
Aside from being active with Friends of the Napa River, Al was involved in a variety of community activities, e.g. the Napa Firefighters Museum, Landmarks and the Historical Society and the Napa Valley PC User Group. He has published books about the history of flooding in Napa County, and, most recently, a large volume of "Bridges of Napa County - the County of Stone Bridges", a real treasure with many photographs and annotations.
Al's son David asked for our help in support of his last wishes that this book be published in true memory of him - it's a statement about the importance of history. We will be missing Al.
Interior Flooding Meeting
By Lee Zuckerman
Report on meeting covering interior drainage in the south part of the city of Napa. Shearer School 12/11/08
Background: Maps produced by West Yost Associates in August '07 show two interior drainage problem areas in south Napa. One of these is centered on the intersection of Brown and Elm streets. The other covers the length of Arboreo Street. These areas are now prone to ponding due to low elevation and inadequate drainage. The water doesn't come over land from the river, and the Napa River Flood Protection Project will not correct the problem, thus the city of Napa is now taking responsibility.
The meeting was lead by Jason Holley, City of Napa Public Works Dept. The planned long term solution is to "piggyback" on the pumping station the Flood District plans to build near the corner of S. Coombs and Imola streets. Under the plan, the city would add capacity to that station. Water from the two interior drainage problem areas would be moved to that location, then pumped over the flood wall into the river. Holley pointed out that this plan can't be implemented till the flood walls and pumping station are built, presently estimated to be 2015.
Therefore, the city is looking for interim measures to mitigate the problem in the near term. The first step in that process will be a new and more specific study. The study will be completed in 2009, and will include information provided by residents of the affected neighborhoods. The study will provide data that consultants will use to design interim flood control measures. It will also be a source for cost estimates which will inform the search for a funding mechanism.
There were perhaps 50-60 people present at the meeting, including myself, a resident of the area, and Jim Hench, FONR member.
Vine Trail Coalition Board
By Barry Christian
Friends of the Napa River has been invited to send a representative to the Napa Valley Vine Trail Coalition Board. I have agreed to be that representative and am happy to serve on this new board. The Vine Trail Coalition is a newly formed non-profit created to implement the Napa Greenway Feasibility Study (http://www.nctpa.net/docs/Napa%20Greenway%20Feasibilty%20Study_2.pdf) for a Class I (separate from vehicle traffic) bicycle and pedestrian pathway stretching from Calistoga to the Vallejo Ferry terminal.
The feasibility study was commissioned by the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency (NCTPA). The Vine Trail Coalition is focusing initially on Phase I, from Calistoga to City of Napa.
A wide range of Napa County organizations are represented on the Vine Trail Coalition Board, envisioned as a grassroots community effort. The exact trail route has not been determined yet - multiple options were analyzed in the Feasibility Study. The trail will probably be completed in segments over time depending on a variety of issues including best available options, partnerships, funding sources, and private landowner voluntary participation.
The Vine Trail Coalition adheres to the following guiding principles:
The process will be open and inclusive
No vineyard land will be taken out of production
All easements, use agreements, etc. will be voluntary
Provisions will be made for ongoing maintenance & upkeep
The result will be as beautiful as our Napa Valley. To learn more about this effort, or to become involved check out the website at http://www.napavalleyvinetrail.org
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