It had been on my mind for 5 years, and in a more active state since January 2020. On May 14th it came to fruition so magnificently!! There are so many people to thank who helped make yesterday’s celebration a reality. Dave Cort set me on the path in the fall of 2019, and took the major role raising funds to pull it off. On top of that, he and Howie were the movers (literally moving the stage!) and shakers ( well, Howie played the drums, that sort of shakes) who contacted all the musicians, arranged the music schedule, and organized the wonderful house band. Maya Normandi designed and Jesse Valens printed the banners that went up in February at the upper campus and in April by SFD. Marty Meade and Karen Renee Voets spent months sorting and organizing the photos, and figuring out a way to display them. James Sanders was my go-to for internet help, fixing glitches on our website many times, and making our connection to LEAP so we could have non-profit status. Donna Hoffman Cullinan built our Facebook page. Kristy Muhic Arroyo, Jasper Thelin, Karen Zaccaglini, Carol Hopkins Rebscher, and Susan Isaac Chavez were core to the planning and executing, always there to advise and lend a hand. Richard Sloan offered advice and kept us clear about the importance of the work. Kristy Muhic Arroyo built our instagram page and got the ceramic mural up on the wall in time for the reunion with help from Manny Arroyo and Jake Morse, and advice from Abel McHone. Kristy also made sure the Dragon had a fresh coat of paint, with lots of kid participation in getting it that way. Breeze Kinsey gave her the palate to work on when he repaired the Dragon in the first place! Reuben Raffael turned up bright and early May 14th to finish prepping the box sculpture with Ashlyn Ferhart and Jasper Thelin. Karen Zaccaglini designed the poster for May 14th. Huda Al Jamal moved on from being the point person for all the artists who submitted artwork to our art show, to getting the new poster printed, then working with her son Amin Al Jamal, taking the ideas Kristy had developed with the current students and turning them into the wonderful t-shirt design.
Rebecca Braun was our main welcomer the day of the event, and helped with planning as well. Samantha Harris, Christina Goodwin, and James Sanders were key to interacting with the current parent body, making sure there were baked goods, drinks (16 families donated them!) and Kelly McPeak, Adam Goodwin, Bridget Goodwin, Emily Goodwin, Chris Coolidge, Kelly Sylvester, Jared Greenholz, Tiffany Greenholz, Lisa Sanders and Malika Henderson to sell them and the t-shirts. Sasha Guilish and her daughter Delilah Cohen, Allison Coolidge, Julie Bernbaum and Karintha Touton kept art activities going all afternoon. Dave Rosen and Farm Fresh gave us a great deal on those t-shirts! Al Baylacq, Alicea Baylacq, Dakota Baylacq, and Taylor James Baylacq and the crew from Good Earth gave us not only a delicious meal, but with their commitment to less waste, we were eating on enamel plates that I saw Al and Dakota cleaning for a long time after the food service ended. Zoila Berardi collected refrigerator boxes that Barbara Stevenson used to create the box structure that attracted people of all ages and grew and changed all afternoon. Buck, Nicole and Neal Chavez came to the rescue in so many ways on the day of the event, from taping up wayward photo posters to finding and installing canopies when the day turned out to be a lot sunnier than we had expected, to jumping onstage when a singer was missing! Keja Valens and Shandor Hassan pitched in the morning and evening of the event wherever the need arose. Tom Finch, John Cunningham, David Russ, Anny Densmore, Kevin Meade, Terry, David, and Oona Garthwaite, Marlowe Riley, Marla Hunt, Kira Thelin, Gracie Chavez, Indie Jenkins, Katherine Wethington, Tony Owen, Andrew Giacomini and Kate Munger gave us the music that made the day come alive. Matt Cohen and Walt Dickson set up and ran the sound. Eddie Joe Chavez, Buck Chavez, and Alejandro Alvarez set up the stage. Andrew interviewed Richard and used what he learned to perfectly honor him, presenting him with the Richard’s Playground sign that will be fine tuned and placed on the play structure by John Millar. Chuck Ford stepped in with less than a day’s notice when Art Rogers called in sick! Jeff Lipstreu made all the arranging of using the school site go smoothly, and we miss him terribly. Laura Shain made sure all our announcements went home in her weekly newsletter. Diane Freitas was instrumental in us receiving support from the Freitas Foundation, and Dennis Rodoni‘s support helped us get a grant from the Marin County Board of Supervisors.
I know I’ve missed some people–there were more helping with the stage and the music for sure whose names I didn’t get. But all were important and I give a big THANK YOU to everyone. Now let’s figure out how to keep this good thing going!
Here is a look at the day, as captured by Tom Valens!
