On December 4th our Docent community gathered for its 4th Quarter Meeting and annual luncheon in the Barracks A/V room. About 30 docents greeted each other, listened to presentations by staff and docents, and then enjoyed delicious box lunches prepared by Suzanne Berube and Sharon Douglas, a demonstration of skills not usually needed by docent co-presidents.  Our thanks to Sharon and Suzanne for brightening the start of our holiday season. 

Jim Danaher gave a brief history of the transfer of the Mission property from Solomon Schocken to the Landmarks League in 1903. William Randolph Hearst is usually credited with negotiating the deal, but Jim pointed out that Hearst was in New York City during 1903 and Joseph R. Nolan was the real force behind the change in ownership. We also learned that Ft. Ross was included in the property transfer. 

Rob Pickett told us of several staff changes. Doug Johnson, the head of maintenance, will add the Marin state parks to his responsibilities and will be moving to Marin. There are a number of open maintenance and landscape positions. We are moving closer to hiring someone to serve as Volunteer Coordinator. Rob also said an announcement will be made in January of an association with Sonoma State University but he didn’t provide any details.

Jerry Pozo filled in for Lisa Tremblay and presented an array of books as samples of what is available in the docent library.  He also took the opportunity to tell us that starting May 28 Petaluma will be celebrating Petaluma History Month. He urged docents to come up with some creative event(s) for the Petaluma Adobe.

Vera Svalgaard gave a progress report on the altar cloth project.

Sharon Douglas requested that docents sign up for tours on Better Impact; there has been a significant reduction in docent tour hours at some venues; the mission in particular needs docents. Sharon and Suzanne announced that because of the unusual circumstances of these past two years, they would run again for a one year term as co-presidents. They were re-elected by unanimous acclaim.  Suzanne also mentioned articles in the San Francisco Chronicle on the history of slavery in California. Here are links to two recent articles:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/California-s-conflicted-history-on-slavery-is-15655772.php

https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinion/openforum/article/How-California-became-a-slave-state-and-stayed-16649499.php

For many years, Cline Winery has displayed models of all the California missions that were made for the 1939 San Francisco Exposition. This was closed to the public at the beginning of the pandemic. They are planning to reopen and have expressed interest in some sort of collaboration with our docent organization. Please contact Sharon if you are interested in pursuing this project. Sharon also wants to know who is interested in visiting some of the many museums in northern California with historical and Indian exhibits. Museum trips can be  credited to docent hours.