| There is a lot going in West Marin. Just a brief glance at any of the listings of events, either on one organization’s website, or on a calendar like West Marin Commons or the Point Reyes Light, you see that you could do something – attend a meeting, an opening, a reading, a performance, a fundraiser – every single day. Maybe more than one per day! This past weekend was like that for us. We crushed some apples with friends on Saturday morning, including Sharron Drake, KWMR Board Member and producer of amazing events. We then zipped up to the Dance Palace, for a compelling discussion between Theresa Harlan from the Alliance for Felix Cove, historian Dewey Livingston, and multi-generational West Marin resident Nick Whitney and his nephew Joel Whitney. On Sunday we participated in CLAM’s Annual Membership Appreciation event, then caught some live music at the Station House Cafe, followed by Sharron Drake Community Arts – Shadow Theatre at Toby’s, where Sharron served up some of that cider we had pressed.It was all wonderful. Live music, kids helping to produce a shadow puppetry theatrical event, learning about the progress at the Coast Guard Housing site, but especially the well-attended talk at the Dance Palace.The Dance Palace was filled to capacity. It was encouraging to see so many people there, a good cross section of the community filling the seats. ÁmatePerez was the facilitator, and she did a great job setting the tone for the conversation, which was kicked off by Theresa Harlan talking about her own family history at Felix Cove on Tomales Bay and Dewey Livingston discussing the history.The event was recorded, and KWMR hopes to be able to share some of the audio once it is edited down to fit our radio format. It was fascinating to hear journalist Joel Whitney and his uncle Nick Whitney, both decendents of the Shafter brothers, who famously enacted industrialized agriculture with the A-Z ranches on the Point Reyes Peninsula in conversation with Theresa Harlan, who’s mother, and grandparents lived on Felix Cove and were kicked out of their ancestral home so that capitalist agriculture could move forward. Colonialism wreaked havoc on native people, not just on the plains, but also in California and all over the USA. There are many great books you can read about this topic. Theresa Harlan referenced Heyday Books, a publisher that allows their books to be read on the KWMR airwaves.One topic that came up again and again was The Alliance for Felix Cove’s desire to have an operating agreement with the National Park Service to care for the 15 acres in Felix Cove. There has been active dialogue with the Point Reyes National Seashore regarding this, but has stalled out since the transition from Craig Kenkel to Anne Altman, the new Superintendent of the Point Reyes National Seashore. I hope that this dialogue reopens soon.And while the Coast Guard Housing Project is not moving as quickly as anyone would have hoped, including CLAM leadership, it is moving forward. It’s a complicated process, basically a huge overhaul of the existing units in order to provide a mix of family and single tenant dwellings on the existing site. These Community Land Trusts of West Marin (Two Valley, The Bolinas Community Land Trust, and CLAM) need our support.Speaking of housing, if you have not had the opportunity to listen to the audio from the West Marin Housing Solutions report, you can do so HERE. KWMR will be working with this committee going forward to make sure that folks know about upcoming meetings, and ways to engage with this important work. There are two meetings coming up on November 12 and 13. You can learn more HERE and register to attend.Ok, that is a lot. Thank you for reading.Please click here… |
