Having a Great Year

By JC Newman

Rancho Cotate Varsity Football is having a great year. Just ask Wayne Thomas, home field announcer for the Cougars for the past twenty-one seasons.

Nearly forty years ago Thomas was asked first to become involved with the Rancho Cotate Football Program, and then in 1989 to act as the official home field announcer.

“One year led to another,” Thomas says during halftime of the NCS Quarterfinal game against Eureka, and as the saying goes, he’s been at it ever since.

At the time of this interview, the score was 27-21, Eureka. Either way, the game ended he knew this was his last night in the booth. “Seems like the right time. I’d rather go out on a winning season.”

Thomas had initially planned to retire from announcing last year. “I stayed this year because of this team. I thought this team had a chance to win it all.”

The veteran home field announcer will build weekend RV trips with his wife around the games saying it’s common to drive back to the announcer’s booth from places like Willits, Bethel Island, or Sacramento, then drive directly after the game to rejoin his wife, who stays behind and near her cell phone, where she’ll watch for texts of game updates.  

In relatively recent years, Thomas pulls off the play-by-play with his son, Jeff, who has been assisting since 2000. Thomas says, “He’s ready to take over.” 

“That’s the plan!” Jeff responds from across the booth.

At the time of this story, the team, 10 and 1 Overall and 4 and 1 in the League won against Eureka 38-35 and is moving into the semifinal round of the NCS Championships.

By JC Newman

Rancho Cotate High School hosted the 2017 NCS Football Semifinal Championship Game on December 2^nd, which featured Cardinal Newman and Marin Catholic high schools. Sitting in the bleachers with a friend cheering on Sonoma County’s local team, Cardinal Newman, I became curious:

Given that Cardinal Newman and Marin Catholic were in the semifinals, how did the game end up at Rancho Cotate’s stadium?

In an interview Monday, Gil Lemmon of the North Coast Section (NCS), provided insight:

He said it has been the policy since 1998 for the North Coast Section (NCS) to allow schools to host games through the semifinals. It assigns the game location to the most geographical area of the higher seed first. In order to host a championship game a facility needs to fulfill a set of requirements established by NCS. If they don’t meet the requirements and can’t host, the offer goes to the next highest seed school.

What are the requirements? Parking is a huge factor. The NCS wants to be sure that in a big game, there is plenty of parking to accommodate the fans. There also needs to be adequate seating in the stadium. Lighting isn’t mandatory as they can play the game in the daytime, but it is preferred. And since the NCS staff is only seven people, they rely on the facilities to provide the staffing such as the game announcer, site director, ticket takers, and ticket manager.

For various reasons, Marin Catholic, who was the top-seeded team in the semifinals, did not meet these requirements. NCS would have chosen to play the game in the area of Marin Catholic but there wasn’t another site available in the Marin County area. San Marin in Novato is also near but was not available. And as many are aware, Cardinal Newman High School was unable to host due to fire damage. Rancho Cotate was approximate to both teams, has great parking, good seating, and in the case of questionable weather [the NCS] likes the turf.

“So for the good of the tournament and all factors weighed in, Rancho Cotate was the best choice. The game was always going to be at Rancho regardless of semifinal teams. Bishop O’Dowd [high school] would have traveled to Rancho Cotate, for example, [had they been in the semifinal game],” Lemmon said.

Historically, [NCS] knows the facility that will host before the bracket is even decided, and as the bracket develops they adjust the location. Ultimately, they may go back to a facility they’ve reserved and cancel due to the location changing.

This begs another question. Who runs the show and where do the profits go?

Rancho Cotate and Technology High School Athletic Director Scott McKeon explains, “Entities within the Cotate Rohnert Park Unified School District (CRPUSD) can use any facility in the district without paying a fee. Entities outside the district may also use the field but pay a nominal fee.” So the facilities request submitted by the NCS to use Rancho Cotate’s field drew a small fee which went to Rancho’s athletic department.

McKeon continues, “When a facility hosts an NCS game, all gate money, which pays for NCS approved officials, goes to the NCS.” At the championship game on December 2^nd, Marin Catholic was the hosting school. So they designated officials to collect the gate fee and that money went to NCS. Rancho ran the snack bar and the profit went into Rancho’s Athletics. Security is arranged by the site director and is typically composed of school administrators, coaches, teachers and other school employees. Local law enforcement is encouraged to show up for larger games. Should there be a need for an ambulance the 911 system is utilized.

By  JC Newman

National Night Out, a 35-year nationwide celebration, was well represented in Rohnert Park this year as community members younger and older mingled with local police, firefighters, rescue professionals, and other hosts at City Center Plaza.

Rohnert Park community members milled about the plaza stopping at the tented kiosks set up by the Police and Fire Departments and others, asking questions and chatting with friends. Eventgoers could sit on a police motorcycle or check out Fire Engine 9982 which was on site flashing lights and doors open to anyone wanting to sit in the driver’s seat or try on a firefighter suit.  Sonoma County Search & Rescue was represented by Kodiak the search and rescue K9 who brought along Community Service Officers Moffitt, Thompson, Hayes, and Poe to answer questions while he charmed the public. The Rohnert Park Animal Services Pet Adoption Wagon gave out information and showed future family members looking for forever homes. Kids could participate in a bike rodeo, play in the plaza fountain mister, or work off steam in a giant police car bounce house. There was lots of activity yet when the National Anthem was sung it became quiet – hands on hearts and eyes on the flag.

Taking a break from the festivities located in the parking lot outside the Department of Public Safety, Rohnert Park Police Chief Brian Masterson, explained the philosophy at the core of National Night Out, which the city first joined nine years ago.

“The idea [for NNO] is the police communicating with citizens, they can work together to make the community safe,” he said Tuesday night. “We have a lot of partnerships with businesses and schools and that’s what you want. You want to be able to not just point to an officer but hopefully, you know that officer and that’s what makes trust relationships.”

Chief Masterson tells his officers to get out of their cars when they can and go into businesses for visits. “It’s an opportunity for the law enforcement and local community members to build relationships – to talk.”

He said he tells his officers, “Go up to the front counter, talk to people, ask them what’s going on. And then they get to know you and they feel good about the department. Then we’re going to build good relationships and we’re going to be safe.”

Masterson described citizens who partner with police to reduce crime as “force multipliers.”

“Criminals want to go into a neighborhood where nobody cares. [But] we have 40 thousand citizens that aren’t going to tolerate crime. They’re not going to tolerate people misbehaving in Rohnert Park and they call us,” the Chief explained.

National Night Out’s origin stems from the efforts of a man named Matt Peskin. In the late 1970s, Peskin volunteered for a Community Watch Program in Philadelphia. Community Watch was started by the National Sheriffs’ Association back in 1972 in an effort to curb a severe increase in crime that had begun in the late 1960s.  Most are familiar with the Community (Neighborhood) Watch Program as generations have seen the signs posted in neighborhoods for over four decades.

Matt Peskin saw the importance of keeping the community enthusiastic about the program so started the Community Watch Newsletter to inform the community of the program’s successes. The monthly publication expanded to surrounding communities and in the process of reaching out to other places, Peskin discovered there were many Community Watch programs with nothing really connecting them. Skip ahead a few years – the National Association of Town Watch (NATW) is established with local police departments and community members all contributing to the association. A few years later the NATW presented the National Night Out celebration proclaiming it be held annually on the first Tuesday in August.

Today, the annual event is attended by 38 million neighbors in 16 thousand communities nationally.

“We have some of the highest citizen surveys in Rohnert Park,” Chief Masterson said proudly. “Last year 2400 people were surveyed, pretty good survey for a population of over 40 thousand. People were asked about the trust and confidence of their public safety department and 86% of the people said high trust/high confidence. On the fire side, 98%. So that tells me that our officers, our firefighters are building good relationships when they have that opportunity with the citizens.

Sources: NATW.org, NNO.org.

By JC Newman 

It was always down during the day- a barrier to the world. Why? What else had he to look at while she was away? How could he explore the world from his perch if the shade was down? So he decided to tell her. First with just an eyehole. But she didn’t hear. Then he told her with a corner. Still, she didn’t notice. So he tried again. Day by day, bite by bite he told her of his hope to widen his world if only from his lonely window.

Artwork by Colton Bell

Spreckels Theater and Alchemia Connect Community

Spreckels Theater and Alchemia Art and Performance Program Connect Community

By JC Newman

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Simon Stephens’ award winning stage adaptation of the Mark Haddon novel, is presented at Spreckels’ Bette Condiotte Experimental Theater. It is an emotional story which beautifully expresses the inner workings of a teenage boy’s highly logical mind as he moves though some challenging life circumstances.

The play is led by Elijah Pinkham in the lead role of Christopher, a teenage boy who appears to be on the autistic spectrum. Pinkham’s Christopher is intuitive, allowing the viewer to empathetically slip inside the character’s world of mathematically precise logic softened by fragility, humor, humanity and strength.

The surrounding characters anchor the play. David Yen’s Ed, palpably expresses the love of his boy, and the burden that years of fear, self-blame or guilt a single parent may carry. Bronwen Shears’ role of Judy truthfully depicts a mother overflowing with love yet tormented by potentially life-destroying decisions. Gina Alvarado’s Siobahn, the supportive and enthusiastic teacher, provides a balancing exuberance to Christopher’s introversion and an insightful narrative disclosing his inner dialogue. The remaining supporting cast; Jeff Coté, John Craven, Liz Jahren, Lydia Revelos, Chris Schloemp and Ari Vozaitis, play rich and entertaining characters. Their very physical and complex choreography is performed with razor sharp precision. Movements mimic the synapses of Christopher’s brain firing along neural pathways as they visually suggest his methodological contemplation. The technical crew provide perfectly timed graphics and special effects, critical to the full experience.

Director Elizabeth (Beth) Craven, described the play’s visual treatment:

“The idea was to make visible, the invisible world that exists inside Christopher’s head. It’s a rethinking of what it would be like to be in that mind. We think sometimes that people that are living on the spectrum as being maybe ‘less than’ but the truth is they’re just in another realm of creativity altogether. He’s brilliant! And it gives an insight into what that way of thinking is. It was really a very special experience working on this play.”

Sheri Lee Miller, Spreckels’ Theater Manager, was aware of the socially conscious aspect of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Upon securing the rights to present it at Spreckels she set out to explore the opportunity to make new connections and bring communities together.

“I’m really proud to bring this play to the Northbay. And I’m excited about this relationship with Alchemia,” said Miller.

Alchemia, led by Artistic Director Liz Jahren, is an art and performance program of artists with developmental disabilities. The program has three locations in Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Novato. Miller and Jahren collaborated to expand on the play by putting together an art show in the Spreckels Theater lobby. The show, entitled, A Spectrum of Creativity, features Alchemia artists; Artur Valitov of Healdsburg, Tesha Tamborski of Petaluma, Cassandra Griffiths and Colton Bell both of Santa Rosa. Bell also created the artwork for the play’s program cover. A Spectrum of Creativity is available for viewing during the run of the play.

Jahren discussed the designing of the show:

“I wanted to honor who the lead character is as a human in the world and some of his struggles. I thought it would be interesting to partner with artists from Alchemia that are also on the spectrum. I chose a variety of people because the spectrum is just that, a spectrum. So it’s not like everyone who is living with autism is like Christopher. You know, there are people that are very very different and express themselves differently, from nonverbal situations to [highly] verbal situations. And I tried to represent that in the kind of breadth of [pieces on display].”

Beth Craven reveals, “I have to say, my favorite thing about the play, honestly, [while] there are a lot of painful things about the play, is that moment at the end when [Christopher] realizes he’s able to do whatever he sets his mind to. It’s such a rocket ship going up, and I think it’s very hopeful.”

“I’m really excited about having the art show and having these artists speak after a couple of the performances,” says Sheri Miller.

Artist Colton Bell, said, “I liked how the play worked really hard to show us the inside mind of someone on the autistic spectrum. The main character’s mind operates the same way as Cassandra Killian, a character on the television show, The Librarian. [Like Christopher], she also visualizes the numbers and shapes and everything.”

Going to theater performances is not always comfortable for individuals with autism or other disabilities and Liz Jahren feels the response from those who have attended either The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time or “A Spectrum of Creativity” has been a positive one.

Jahren says, “The [Spreckels] partnership with Alchemia has invited people who have [family] with special needs to bring them to this show. Something that doesn’t always happen because it’s challenging or the performance is long, or there are things that don’t make it user friendly for that segment of our community.”

During the first weekend at a “talk-back” session after the performance, Jahren recalls a young man on the spectrum who had brought his mother and grandparents to see the play.

Jahren quoted the man as saying, “I was able to watch it and identify my own processes. The most exciting thing was my family got to see an external view of some of my internal struggles.” 

Watching the effect this experience has had on Alchemia’s participating artists, Jahren had this to say:

“[I believe] presenting their art in the show has made them feel valued, worthwhile and elevated their feeling of community and personal pride. It did something magical for them as artists. I’m really grateful to both Beth [Craven] and Sheri [Miller] for helping to facilitate this opportunity.”

Sheri Miller looks forward to more collaborations, saying, “I would like to do more of this with our shows, where we partner with another organization and enrich the plays in that way. I think it’s cool.  We have this enormous gorgeous lobby so it really lends itself to this sort of thing.”

Anyone can view Alchemia’s art show in the Spreckels Theater lobby at 5409 Snyder Lane, Rohnert Park, CA, during the running of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which closes September 30^th.

Alchemia has three locations where artists’ work can be viewed; 111 Kentucky Street, Petaluma, 1515 3^rd Street at the Society of Artist (MSA) in San Rafael and 1123 Grant Street, Novato, which will be opening the end of October. Visit Alchemia’s website at www.Alchemia.org for more information.