In 2002, July 4 precisely, we were privileged to return from several years in Nashville, TN to northern California.
In Nashville, we had tons of lovely friends, artists, musicians and dear bon vivants to hang out with, to work for and to travel with especially to France and back to our roots in California. After Nancy finished her MA from CIIS in San Francisco and began the PhD online, she wanted to return there;, Richard had an opportunity to return us to California, to work in Napa and Sonoma with an excellent green builder whom we have mentioned before, Bruce Hammond of Hammond Fine Homes. After moving across country again, we were privileged to have a few months respite by living on Bruce Neyers' (of Neyers Vineyards and Kermit Lynch Imports) lovely vineyard in a second home Bruce had recently acquired, which we promptly decorated with our art and then spent lovely days and evenings sharing meals and sunsets with friends. Thanks to Bruce and his family.
During that time we became active with Friendly Favors, a world wide, world class networking group started by our friends, Sergio and Gaye Lub, community activists and world travelers of deep heart and wisdom. Through Friendly Favors, we began meeting other lovely Napa and Sonoma folks at our intimate pot lucks where we shared food and discussed important issues with innovative people into the night. (If you would like to know more about Friendly Favors, contact us for an invitation.)
Two of those folks who hosted a dinner during that time were Sandra and Jim Perry of St. Helena. The Perry's opened their new, gracious and elegant home to us all on several occasions and the Perry's have generously hosted Richard and Nancy several times when we've travel to St. Helena from Monterey. We love being able to "go local" and immerse ourselves in the beauty of the area and the intelligence and creativity there even as we appreciate the cool fog, people and stunning nature of the Monterey Bay area.
At the time that Friendly Favors was becoming busier connecting brilliant people, perhaps under some of the influence of what we were all learning, Sandra Perry was also creating an environmental education program, Acorn Soupe, with her mom, Babe McCormick. From Jeff Mathy, Acorn Soupe's Outreach & Marketing Coordinator we got a little snip of the history of how Acorn Soupe came into being:
"Two women, both of whom grew up on a ridge between Napa and Sonoma counties, created Acorn Soupe. Family heirs Babe McCormick Learned and her daughter Sandra Learned Perry, Acorn Soupe’s invaluable board president, had the vision, spirit and mettle to form McCormick Sanctuary, Inc., inspired by the creation of a 1,000-acre preserve from the historic McCormick Ranch. Their vision of Acorn Soupe incorporates meaningful ways to connect youth to their surroundings, engage them in stewardship activities, and teach them to teach others to make positive, personal decisions about the environment."
All the emphasis in the above quote is ours, The Albion Millworks, and all we can say is Wow! Donating Napa land to environmental education!
We have now been delighted to watch over these years the program grow and flourish through hard times and now to become embraced and adopted widely in various communities in both Sonoma and Napa counties, through the generosity and vision of Sandra Learned Perry, her family and their community. We are happy to alert you to their work and ask you to consider connecting with them somehow, through a donation or some kind of involvement. To learn more, visit their useful site at www.acornsoupe.org
Their 7th Annual Tree of Life Gala Fundraiser is about to happen September 23rd at the lovely Spottswoode Estate in St. Helena: http://www.spottswoode.com/ If you would like to attend, be aware that seating for the auction and fundraiser is limited and contact Acorn Soupe very soon to participate. (You reading, Nashville and other friends? What a great time to come visit!)
In the next few weeks will be featuring more on The Acorn Soupe Tree of Life Gala and some of the wonderful auction items and generous donors. Stay tuned. A recent list of donors and donations can be found here but will be updated soon: Download donationsweekaug8.pdf
