Thanks to the support of local bike shops The Bike Peddler/NorCal Bike Sport, Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition's (SCBC) Safe Routes to School program will be able to improve its bicycle skill-safety programs to better serve students. By partnering with the bike shops, SCBC's Safe Routes program has been awarded a Specialized Bicycles grant that will fund the purchase of a bike fleet comprising ten Specialized "Hot Rock" bicycles which children will use during bicycle skill-safety education. The grant also includes funding that will enable The Bike Peddler/NorCal Bike Sport to provide mechanic labor services, tools, and equipment for bicycle education courses scheduled in the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition's South Santa Rosa Safe Routes to School program.

"This grant from Specialized Bicycles," says Tina Panza, Safe Routes to School Program Director, "will improve the effectiveness of our bicycle education program. Many children do not have access to bicycles and so cannot enjoy the full benefits of our programs; having the new bike fleet provides bikes for those students to use. And being able to guarantee that the shops' professional mechanics will be able to provide bike safety inspections and repairs at our South Santa Rosa courses is fantastic. We're so grateful for the support."

The Bike Peddler/NorCal Bike Sport, locally owned bicycle retailers located in Santa Rosa, are Specialized Bicycle dealers. Specialized awards grants to nonprofit organizations that partner with their dealers, as is the case with SCBC's Safe Routes to School program and The Bike Peddler/NorCal Bike Sport.

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The Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation has received a donation to restore the historic Watson School in Bodega. The donation was given by the estate of the late Daniel B. Furlong, at his request. Mr. Furlong was a Sonoma County civil engineer for more than three decades. He attended Watson School and was a member of the last graduating class of 1967.Watson_School Several generations of the West County pioneering Furlong family also attended Watson School.

Watson School is located on Bodega Highway between Sebastopol and the Town of Bodega, one mile west of Valley Ford-Freestone Road. The original land was donated in 1856 by James Watson for the construction of a school to serve the communities of Bodega, Freestone and Valley Ford.

Watson School has the distinction of being the only one-room schoolhouse in public ownership within Sonoma County remaining on the original site and operating as a school for more than 111 years (1856-1967). Watson School was designated as a Point of Historical Interest by the California Department of Parks and Recreation in 1966. The school was closed in 1967 and donated to Sonoma County Regional Parks Department to manage. In 1968, Regional Parks converted the grounds around the building to a Wayside Park with picnic tables, a portable restroom facility and a parking area. In 1976 Watson School was named Sonoma County Landmark #23, and in 1978 Watson School was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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The relocation  of the massive white sculpture was necessary to make room for roadway changes related to construction of the new Sutter Hospital complex adjacent to the Center at River Road and Highway 101. The sculpture by Penngrove artist Robert Ellison stands at 28-feet tall and 23-feet wide. Crews used a crane to move the immense work of art, last Thursday, June 23.

Santa Rosa and Windsor share some of the best regional parks in Sonoma County and since both cities are close to one another, their parks are easy access .
Windsor, up until 1983, was nothing but a rundown small hick town of less than 2000. Its core was centered around the Highway 101 exits, about a 1000 yards on each side. There was never a reason to go to Windsor except to see someone who might live there. Very few stores existed, certainly no malls or shopping centers. Windsor was a place low income families lived. Hard to believe now, but is true.

Of course, today, 30 years later, it is quite the opposite thanks to the intervening real estate boom in that area when its local ranchers sold vast amounts of acreage to developers. Today, Windsor is Sonoma County’s youngest new city and is host to three awesome outdoor regional parks, each offering a mix for bikers, hikers, walkers and joggers.

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