November 20, 2006

The holiday season is sure a busy time for a small town such as ours. It’s hard not to feel a little bit of the holiday spirit when driving through town and seeing hundreds of people anxiously awaiting their turn to ride the Holiday Train of Lights. The train is beautiful and exciting but we must remember that for the next few weekends we need to watch out for those passengers crossing our dark roads; especially the young ones who are very eager to hop on board the train.

Our annual Sunol Tree Lighting and Holiday Train of Lights event on December 2 is so much fun. I love seeing all those familiar faces of friends and neighbors on that train. Don’t’ forget to drop off a baked goodie to share at the Community Park before the train ride, which departs at 4:30. Each year the Sunol 4-H Club does a wonderful job of sprucing up the town and hanging lots of festive decorations. And again this year they will provide coffee and hot chocolate at the event.

There are still a few tickets available for the “Sunol residents only” train on December 2. Please contact Ario Ysit at 925-862-2251 to reserve yours. Ario will be distributing tickets on November 25 in front of Sunol Foods from 9:00 a.m. to noon. to those residents who have already reserved their seats aboard the train

Elliston Vineyards hosts the annual “Holiday in the Vineyards” on December 2 and 3. Visit the historic stone mansion for wine tasting, music and a holiday boutique.

A first for Whistle Stop Antiques, they are extending their hours on December 2 and will be open for your shopping pleasure until 9:00 p.m.

Its fun, it’s wild, it’s corny and it’s the Sunol Repertory Theater’s open auditions for this year’s melodrama, “Taming the Wild, Wild West in a Dress, or…Let’s Give the Villain the Slip” by Billy St. John.. Auditions are being held for both adult characters as well as children’s olios on December 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Sunol Glen School auditorium. SRT veteran, Klay Kunkel, will be Directing his first production this 2007 season and will be joined by the Producing team of Kelly Sandlin and Paige Mendicino. “It’s a great melodrama in the classic tradition with lots of action, laughs, double-crosses, mistaken identities, true love and a happy ending”, wrote Paige.

Final Harvest Festival news-Thank you to Andrew Turnbull and Pat Stillman for providing me with last minute details from the Harvest Festival held on October 7. One subject that I failed to mention in a previous column is that every year during the festival, the Save Our Sunol group presents a Citizen of the Year Award. This year’s recipient was Irv Tiessen.

A true protector of the environment, Irv is a member of the Audubon Society; he builds, installs and monitors bluebird boxes over a 16 mile radius for the California Bluebird Recovery program. He is a member of the Sierra Club, the Alameda Creek Alliance, Save Our Sunol and Kilkare Woods Association and has served as a workshop instructor for Stopwaste.org.

Irv currently serves as Chairman for the Sunol Advisory Committee and along with his wife Diane, has called Sunol home for 31 years.

Bosco’s Bones and Brew will be open on Thanksgiving Day serving traditional the traditional turkey dinner and lots more from 3:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.