Jim Cheney Your Rincon Valley Realtor

I can't believe as a society we get more "days off" for Thanksgiving then we do for Christmas. Anyway, I always enjoy an extra long weekend. We usually go to Monterey Friday thru Sunday, but we decided to stay home. How did you spend your weekend?

Setting up the Blowmold nativity scene. The light inside one of the wisemen was giving me trouble. Stupid wiseman! (Yes I'm wearing shorts. It was a beautiful 75+ today.)

We had family and friends come over for Thanksgiving who drove in from out of town. "We love driving to the Wine County, what's with all the Peanut characters all around?"

I've gotten use to seeing them around, but there are a lot of Peanut characters around Santa Rosa, and all over the Sonoma County. Charles Schulz lived most of his life here, and had his studio on the west side of Santa Rosa.

Is the fact that our county airport is called the Charles M, Schulz any indicator of how important Charles is to our community?

Born in 1922 in St. Paul Minnesota, Charles loved ice skating. He moved to Santa Rosa in 1970 where he built his studio. He also built an ice skating rink so that he and other could place ice hockey. The rink is still open today for ice hockey and staking lessons. Next to the rink is Charles business office and recently a museum was built on the property.

Charles died in February 2000 in his home at age 77. Sparky, Santa Rosa misses you dearly.

Thinking of relocating to Northern California? Consider the Town of Windsor. With a polutation of about 25,000 it is just the right size to provide all the services of a medium sized city with a small town feel. Windsor incorporated in the mid 1990's and is quite progressive. Wineries are a short distance drive in any direction, and a bike ride in the country is always just around the corner.

I think the highlight of the Town of Windsor is it's newly developed Town Green. It's a work/live devolopment that is bordered by Old town Windsor, and a huge lawn/park. In the summer the town hosts weekend movies and concerts on the lawn.

Windsor is about a 45 minute drive to San Francisco, and about 10 minutes from Santa Rosa. For more information about Windsor, check out: http://www.ci.windsor.ca.us/

Crab season is in full swing. In the Wine Country, Crab feasts are a regular event! They are a bit pricey, but if you go to one, you'll go every year. Here is a list of up coming "All you can eat " crab feasts for this crab season. Hope to see you there!

Santa Rosa High School Foundation Jan. 23, 2010

• All you can eat crab
• Salad
• Clam Chowder, dessert, beer & wine
• $45
• 545-4095

Piner High School Crab feed Jan 29, 2010

• No-host bar
• Silent auction
• Salad, bread, dessert
• Live band & dancing
• $40
• 836-9735

Ursuline High School January 29 & 30, 2010

• Pasta, bread, dessert
• Wine
• Silent auction
• No-host bar
• $25 - $50
• 524-4640

Elsie Allen High Jan, 30, 2010

• Pasta, salad, bread
• Raffles, silent auction
• Music
• $35
• 584-4198

Montgomery High School Ed. Foundation Jan. 30, 2010

• Clam chowder
• No-host beer and wine
• Silent auction
• $45
• 347-6638

The Rotary Club of Santa Rosa West Jan. 30, 2010

• Silent and live auctions
• Wild West theme
• Entertainment
• $60
• 325-6248

Great Sonoma Crab and Wine fest Feb. 6, 2010

• Clam chowder
• Silent and live auctions
• Appetizers and drinks
• $65 -$90
• 544-5575

Maria Carrillo High School Feb. 6, 2010

• Clam Chowder, bread, salad and dessert
• Silent and live auctions
• $45
• 528-5518