On August 15, 2017 HSSR members and guests enjoyed a moderated panel discussion on the History of the Horse in Sonoma County.  Held at the Saturday Afternoon Club, attendance was over 100. Author Wanda Smith, local horse trainer Ted Draper, and owner of Cloverleaf Ranch Ginger DeGrange, told stories accompanied by a visual projection of me of the local Champions.

On June 13, 2017 HSSR guests enjoyed a moderated panel focusing on the theater experience in Santa Rosa. Gaye LeBaron moderated the talk with Dan Tocchini and Hal Wright. Great stories were shared from the perspective of the theater operator, the movie goer, and theater employees. Guests enjoyed a hosted beverage reception before the talk and Q & A session that followed.

The Sonoma County Genealogy Library hosted a Day of Discovery at the De Turk Round Barn where the public was invited to discover the hidden treasures in many Sonoma County historical archive collections.

HSSR Members enjoyed a private viewing of the Sonoma County Museum exhibit:

Fighting the Great War at Home and Abroad

The exhibit showed how the war touched lives both at home and abroad.  Curator Eric Stanley spoke presenting the exhibit afterward members explored independently. The event included a hosted beverage reception.

HSSR members enjoyed a double feature of Pollyanna, filmed on McDonald Avenue, and the HSSR’s documentary film at the Roxy Stadium 14.

HSSR hosted a moderated talk on February 28, 2017:  Tales of the Santa Rosa Police Department. The introduction was made by Don Silverek. The talk was moderated by Chris Smith featuring Rod “Smokey” Sverko and Gaye LeBaron. Guests enjoyed a hosted beverage reception before the talk and Q & A session that followed. Rod shared police tales from his 40 year career in the Department, many from the era of Melvin F. “Dutch” Flohr as Chief of Police.

The names of 4 SRPD officers filled the night’s stories: Lee Gleason, George Scinto, Karl Meister and Walt Gesek. Their long careers required three to pull the trigger just once, and the fourth, Geason, never did.   Knowledge or sight of the officer’s weapon would suffice.  LeBaron retold of one such situation. A suspect was fleeing over a fence, the officer shot off the gun as a warning and out of sheer shock and fear the suspect fell to the ground. The officer gasped, fearing he’d actually shot him.

Great stories of Santa Rosa past, told well.

HSSR members and guests enjoyed the HSSR’s short film documentary about the history of Santa Rosa along with a cinematic production filmed in our city.  Santa Rosa: The Chosen Spot of all the Earth was featured along with It’s a Wonderful Life, featuring scenes in Santa Rosa. The big screen at Summerfield Cinemas provided the venue for this great Santa Rosa double feature.

HSSR members and guests enjoyed the HSSR’s short film documentary about the history of Santa Rosa along with a cinematic production filmed in our city.  Santa Rosa: The Chosen Spot of all the Earth was featured along with Shadow of a Doubt which utilized a residence on historic McDonald Avenue as a primary location within the film.

The HSSR joined with the Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library for this event.  Free to HSSR members and open to the public, the library and HSSR board members scanned Santa Rosa centric photographs, putting the image data on thumb drives for the attendees.  The library also retained digital copies of the images within their growing digital photograph library of local history.  The physical photographs returned home with their owners.

2016 Photo Scan Event