Week of November 2, 2026
Fans Have More Friends
A World Series watch party at McNear’s featured cheeseheads, cheeseboards, and, most importantly, cheesy chums
by Tyler Rieger, AmeriCorps Fellow serving with Aqus Community
You might not care too much about the outcome of a ballgame. If a last-second shot cashes in at the buzzer, if a kicker boots the ball through the field goal posts as time expires, or if a batter can put the ball in play with two outs in the ninth and the game on the line. These things probably don’t mean much to some people, but to others, it means the world.
Sports have a way of captivating a crowd. Bringing people together. Getting a room (or stadium) full of strangers and acquaintances to act like lifelong friends. As the game ebbs and flows, so do the people watching. Experiencing every high and low together, in concert, an exercise in complete unity, fully bonding fans who may not know each other very well but know that they love the same team.
On Friday night, some Petalumans got to savor this experience in quite a “cheesy” way at McNear’s Saloon & Dining House. Aqus Community helped facilitate a Game 1 World Series watch party for any local Milwaukee Brewers fans. A dozen-plus fans packed a reserved corner in the pub, cheering on the Brew Crew as they battled the Tampa Bay Rays.
Interestingly, there were only two Wisconsin transplants in the crowd. The rest of the fanatical audience were there only to support those hometown fans. But they completely bought into the excitement of the game, shouting in triumph when the Brewers scored, dropping their heads in despair when the Rays did.
This event wasn’t really about locking into the Brewers game (well, for two people it might’ve been). For most people there, it was a chance to support a friend, to get wrapped up in something they normally wouldn’t care about, to get out of the house and have fun on a Friday night.
I asked a few people there what they would be doing if they weren’t at the watch party, and I received several answers that followed a common thread. I heard things like, “At home watching this on TV, probably alone,” and “At home, playing with my dog, watching Fast and Furious.” For both the fans who cared about the game and those who didn’t care all that much, it was still an opportunity to connect with others.
The book, Fans Have More Friends, came out a few years ago. Written by analytics and strategy experts, this data-driven study examines how being a sports fan (or a fan of anything, really) reduces loneliness and fosters more friendships and happiness. In other words, sports aren’t just a distraction or a form of entertainment, but a social glue that brings people together in the face of a modern epidemic of loneliness.
That was the sort of data-backed magic that took place at McNear’s on Friday night. The Brewers beat the Rays and amazingly made a room full of Petalumans overjoyed that a team from Wisconsin won a ballgame. Lisa Baird, a Wisconsin native who works at the local nonprofit Life on Art, said it best when describing what it’s like to be part of such a thriving fandom. “It’s pure magic at a time when we need it… life is messy right now, and this is just pure joy.”
Fast forward almost a week later, to Wednesday night, and the Brewers were securing their first championship in the team’s 57-year history. It was a long time coming for many Wisconsinites. Even though the game was played in Florida, Brewers fans still packed out American Family Field in Wisconsin, selling out the stadium with 30,000+ fans for one gigantic Game 5 watch party.
And although there was no official watch party in Petaluma that night, Baird didn’t have to watch the game alone. A few of her neighbors and friends, who caught wind of the Game 1 get-together but didn't have a chance to make it, decided to have their own impromptu watch party anyway. On a whim, they drove over to Baird’s house, knocked on the door, and all ended up enjoying the game together.
Sometimes all it takes is knowing that there are some other fans out there. Knowing that there aren’t just people watching the ball game, but that they want to watch with others. Whether that’s in a stadium of tens of thousands, a Petaluman pub with a couple dozen others, or in a living room with a handful of friends. Watching a ball game with fellow fans can be an irresistibly jubilant experience, an easy way to connect with others and transcend the usual social obstacles. And it sure beats watching alone.
Subscribe to the Aqus Community Newsletter to receive more stories like this one.
https://www.aquscommunity.org/get-news/...
30
Music Report II: Travis Hayes “Sleepless” LP
I want to talk to you about a local musician named Travis Hayes, but first I want to take a chance to make a better first impression. I feel like we got off on the wrong foot and I would like to reintroduce myself.
When I approached porches to be a scout, I did not want to just review music, I wanted to participate in conversations about music. I wanted to facilitate opportunities for people in Petaluma to connect through music. My friend once said “where words fail, music fails less”, and I think about that all the time. Life is busy in 2026, around the holidays doubly so. If everyone could get together and have a listening party that would be great, but im worried that most people would have trouble making time. So, in an effort to work with the modern world, my hope is that every item I review will either be available for free to check out from the Petaluma Library, and if not, I will be releasing my review copy into the wild in the hopes it will works its way through many hands and ears before landing in its final home at Porches HQ. I know we can all just open a new tab on browser and check it out, but I hope a few people are willing to do this the old way, take a moment out of their day, play an album, try to relate to it and to other people through it. Post some thoughts for others to read. Hopefully scrawl a few notes on the jacket even. Take the time to pass it along to a curious music loving fellow porches user. Can I put upon you to volunteer and make my vision complete? If so, just post in the comments that you are interested in being a part of this traveling record game!
But back to Travis Hayes. Travis calls Petaluma home, but he has played his music all across this country. From small spaces to legendary concert halls, he has worked hard to put his original and heartfelt compositions in front of anyone with a notion to hear him out. He has performed in a Dolby sponsored youtube video, a company I cherish but was not aware they did these artist spotlights. Travis has played in many bands over the years, but eventually did what many aspiring songwriters do and stripped away the marketing of the rock group to put down some songs under his own name. His bandcamp shows the beginning efforts manifesting as digital only releases starting with his Warm Bodies single from 2013. The debut album Young Daze would follow in 2014 with both the original full version and also an acoustic version. A two song single was released from the album as well. In 2019, the second album would see release as a physical LP and that is the record I have been listening to and thinking about today.
Travis had, at one point written something on his social media about being an elder Emo musician or similar. I know I haven’t gotten it exactly right. I still don’t know what to expect as I walk to the turntable. I am middle aged, and “emo” meant pre Fugazi DC band Rites of Spring. For people a little younger than me though, it meant gravity records bands that screamed into no mic and played the drums with tears streaming down their face. Now in 2026, to my Casa Grande proud senior year niece, emo seems to mean something a little more mainstream…? She used it to describe a person in a picture that looked to me like the Hot Topic employees of my youth, cruelly mocked as mall goths (but not by me no no)... and I confess I don’t know who they are inside or what their art would be if I was able to find it…. I just know the term has and will evolve and that whatever I think that means, I am probably going to be surprised.
I feel uneasy here. I know Travis is on Porches and that he will read this review, I know that this type of music does not find me on solid footing for competent critique. I know that as a musician, my heart sinks when people reduce my own recordings to comparisons to other musicians… but I also realize that as a musician the best approach is to think about what ingredients to use, what the musical language is that comes from inside….but as an audience, we have to use the blunt tools we have to talk to each other. So what do I hear from my corner of the musical world? I hear a voice with a handsome and sandy grit of early Ryan Adams records, that sometimes lifts at the end in the classic charming way that Bob Dylan perfected. I hear a fellow traveler for the tender American that Springsteen wanted to share on his Nebraska LP. I hear a very accomplished guitar player playing a nice bare physical guitar sound that lets you hear hands and strings working together rather than hot electric rushes. I hear some fatal post punk drama melodies not unlike something from an Echo and The Bunnymen LP. I hear a person who has a good grasp of how to send a chorus off a cliff so that the song opens underneath itself rather than blossoming upwards. I hear a dynamic record with sad and reflective moments, but also some playful surges as well. I weigh this against my expectations from the cool colored cover with the hotel phone off the hook that tells me “tonight will be a long labored rumination”. I hear direct lyrics, laid bare in a storytelling way that would rather be understood clearly than to risk the obscurity of poetics. I like what I hear.
The LP is self published, pressed at a local pressing plant in Oakland CA (since relocated) with a full color two sided printed insert and gorgeous clear pink vinyl. It’s expertly mastered and manufactured on quality materials showing a care for the LP as a legitimate format and not just an ikea ornament. I roll the run out grooves in the light to see if there is a hidden message from Travis, but it’s just the catalog number there. I guess everything that needed to be said is in the grooves.
Travis has been focusing lately on his new(ish) project The New Westerns, launched just in time this year to play some sad farewell gigs to legendary SF spots like Bottom of the Hill and Thee Parkside. But he still does intimate solo performances as well, and I do hope to catch one of them very soon. In the meantime, I have this durable LP, something I know he believed in enough to see through onto a cumbersome and expensive tangible project. I appreciate that he put the time, effort, and funds to signal this is where he wants my attention. I will repay the favor with considerate listening.
I reached out to Travis about doing an interview to discuss his solo work, his new band, his life in Petaluma, and anything else he wants to share. That will be coming in a bit. For now, you can check out his LP on his bandcamp, or if you want to sit down with the record, post your interest in the comments and let get this thing bouncing around town. From my turntable to yours.
Sleepless is available for purchase from Travis at his bandcamp page, as well as at Rain Dog Records in their local artist section....
126
Week of October 26, 2026
The House Project III, part 2
Additional imagery from our House Project with Jess Brown. Olivia Rogers jess brown...
180
The Pigs of Bountiful Way
I read a piece recently about a breed of grazing pigs out at a Petaluma farm I hadn't heard of yet, called Honeybutter Farm. I was super curious and emailed the team, who responded quickly with a warm invite to come out for a chat. I had never been that far down Frates Road, and it's beautiful, surrounded by dairy pasture and wine grapes. The farm sits on a road called Bountiful Way, which made me smile as I typed it into maps.
There are six pigs. Tina, Alberta and Lily, two young males named Abraham and Isaac, and Curly, a barrow going for processing in the next couple of weeks. Robert Turley, the owner, who bought the 100 acres with his wife Brittany less than two years ago, wanted a diversified farm rather than a monoculture, with the pigs out on pasture instead of penned.
"Most pig breeds are fine outside ... but they tend to root around a lot," he said. "Whereas these pigs are known for having the ability to have a large percentage of their diet be what they forage in the pasture. And less in rooting. They'll actually eat grass. They've got [an] unusual digestive system that allows them to do it."
They are Meishan, a Chinese breed. A 2012 study in the Journal of Animal Science found they get roughly twice as much fiber out of the same feed as Yorkshire pigs do.
My understanding was that pigs are hard on land, so I asked how much these root. "I've heard that they can root if they want to, but they don't really," Bob said. "I've hardly seen it." Jordan, the farm manager, who lives on site, said the only damage they do is create the wallows, "but it's very localized." A wallow is a mud pit that pigs roll in to cool off, because they cannot sweat.
The cost of the breed is time. A commercial hog is ready in about four months. Honeybutter processed its first pig at eight months, and Bob thinks ten or eleven is closer to right.
They have eaten that one. "The pig was delicious, like tenderloin. Amazing," Bob said. "It almost tasted like it had been flavored ... in some kind of marinade when it wasn't." He likes the marbling of fat in it. The bacon was still curing and they had not tried it yet.
"We can't compete on price. A big factory farm in the Midwest shipping pork in here will beat our price," he said. "How many people will go for the quality of the meat, the storyline behind it? We don't know the answer."
He thinks the organic certification might make the difference, and says he has not come across another organic pig farm in Northern California.
Honeybutter's vegetables, jams and creamed honey are at the east side farmers market at Lucchesi Park on Tuesdays. Belfare buys their cucumbers for pickles and some of their greens, so if you have had that salad more than once, you have probably eaten something grown here. Bob was careful to say they do not supply all of it.
The pork is not for sale yet, and people have started emailing to ask.
"It's kind of an open question of how do we get the food to the people?"
However they answer it, there will be more pigs. Tina, Alberta and Lily are all meant to be mothers in the spring.
Thank you to Robert Turley and Jordan Michael from Honeybutter for the visit!...
130
Suncatcher Farm's Veggie Shack: Why Buying Local Matters
On Bodega Ave, just before the Portuguese Hall of Petaluma and Aguis Market, lies a Petaluma treasure: Suncatcher Farm. Its 10 acres of certified organic land are managed and farmed by Patrick Krier. I’ve been a dedicated shopper at their veggie shack since they opened in 2018.
The Veggie Shack offers a remarkable array of organic, just-picked, just-made provisions. Seasonal vegetables include: Bodega Red potatoes, peppers, butter lettuces, cauliflower, heirloom tomatoes, and Cipollini and red onions. The farmstand also has flowers, eggs, WOW Grasslands ground beef, bread and rolls from Richly Rooted Pantry & Provisions, and a Canteen Meats vending machine tucked in the corner. Suncatcher uses a unique honor-based payment system: you pick and weigh your vegetables, jot down what you took, and pay in cash or Venmo. Katniss, the black cat, greets customers and watches the cash box.
Suncatcher Farm offers more than fresh food. It's about what buying local really means, how trust builds community, and the challenges small farms face to stay financially sustainable.
So, what does it really mean to buy local?
“Everybody says they support local,” Patrick says. “But buying local isn’t always the same thing. For example, a restaurant might claim to use local ingredients, but they might actually buy from a big agricultural operation instead of a small, independent farm. Local might even be anywhere in California,” he explains.
To Patrick, supporting local means considering how food is grown, who grows it, and where the money ends up. He knows customers have different priorities: some care about how their food is produced, while others want to ensure their purchases directly support the local economy.
People are attracted to places like Petaluma and move here because they appreciate the picturesque small farms, independent shops, and the DIY businesses. “But if you want them there, you need to support them,” Patrick shares. “You have to buy their goods so the money actually stays in the local economy.”
A Growing Community
Patrick’s loyalty to the community goes beyond his own crops. He began welcoming other producers when one of his employees raised ducks and chickens for eggs and needed somewhere to sell them. Patrick gave her a chance, and soon other partnerships followed, including with local meat and bread producers.
He especially likes giving producers a place to sell when they don’t have other options. He doesn’t see those partnerships mainly as a way to boost his own profits. Instead, he wants to make local goods available and help other small businesses reach customers.
A Simple Thing Called Trust
The honor system is another way Patrick puts his philosophy into practice. “I like to trust my customers and my neighbors,” he says. “Most people are pretty fair.” He knows this setup isn’t risk-free. Other farms have dealt with theft and vandalism, and not every place is right for an unattended stand. Still, Patrick chooses generosity over suspicion. If someone is a few dollars short, they can pay the rest next time.
“I’d rather keep it simple and just trust you,” he says.
Patrick’s goal is to make people feel welcome and want to come back. The honor system isn’t about watching every transaction—it’s about building a relationship with the community. Every customer who pays fairly and treats the space respectfully fosters that trust. It’s pretty radical.
The cost of farming
Behind the sweet farmstand is the tough reality of making a living as a small farmer.
Patrick talks about rising costs and shrinking profits. Packaging costs that rose during the pandemic are still high. Suncatcher Farm uses an old generator for its well, so when diesel prices go up, it drives up the cost of watering the fields. He points out that potato prices haven’t changed since 2018, even though fuel costs have gone way up.
Farming also comes with a lot of uncertainty. Each season, Patrick must estimate the potential value of every square foot and decide which crops are worth the work and resources. If a crop fails, he loses not just the money he put into it, but also what he could have earned from growing something else. “Every little choice we make is a gamble,” he says.
For customers who want to support local agriculture, Patrick suggests a few ways. You can consistently buy from local farm stands and from the local grocer Jupiter Foods. He says Daniel Bleakney Formby is one of the best grocers in town because he knows the farmers who make the products he sells and works to create a better food system for Petaluma.
Another option is to subscribe to Feed Bin, a CSA program from FEED Cooperative, a farmer-owned cooperative that connects local farms with grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers through a multi-farm produce box program. Over 60 North Bay farms are involved.
As we head into harvest season and the upcoming holidays, consider stopping by the little veggie shack on Bodega Avenue to support a local farmer. Check the Suncatcher Farm’s IG for the most up-to-date hours, especially with the time change on Sunday.
Supporting local isn’t just a slogan. It’s a choice we make every time we decide where to spend our money, and it’s a way to invest in the people, relationships, and food systems that strengthen our community....
2712
Dating after Divorce
Dear Gray Divorcée,
I reached out to two divorced friends on your behalf. The first, a beautiful 60-year-old artist, three years into her single life, could be of no help, but I loved her response: “I’m still guarding my solitude. After a quarter century in a relationship and parenting, I do wtf I want = bliss.” Sigh. Happily married as I am, her f*-all independence has its own kind of romance.
The second friend I consulted, who also happens to be a hot number (as I bet you are), was a jackpot of information. I’ll call this 50-something friend Erica.
For the first five or six years after her divorce, Erica was a lot like my artist friend: “I had zero interest in dating,” she told me. “The best thing about being divorced is that you’re no longer married. I was like, why would I want to do that again?” Eventually, though, Erica felt ready to dip her toe into the dating waters. With some trepidation, she turned to the apps.
The Deal with Dating Apps
Erica’s favorite app was Hinge. “It’s easy!” she assured me. “You just need a pithy little profile and some good pictures. Have somebody help you, a trusted girlfriend who will say, ‘Don’t put that picture up. It looks like you’re 30 pounds heavier than you are.’”
Apparently, Erica’s profile was aces. “Every time I went on there, I had a queue of like 50 guys, ages 40 to 60—almost always wearing cycling shorts. I was like, what is up with all these smug, sweaty cyclists?” Most of the guys she swiped for were not Petalumans, which was fine with her. “You can set distance parameters,” she explained. “I was open to anyone within Sonoma County.” (You can also set parameters for things like age, religion, and politics.)
Two more tips from Erica:
“Have your date come to you, and pick a nice restaurant, so you at least get a nice meal out of the deal! I often went to Risibisi because I love it and also, I know the bartender. So, if someone was sketchy-sketch, I felt covered.”
“My rule of thumb is if you have a nice time but aren’t sure about someone, go on two dates before you write them off. It’s a lot to expect someone to bring it home on the first date.”
Besides Erica’s choice, Hinge, I’ve heard OkCupid is a pretty good app for middle-aged and older folks, with a good-sized dating pool in and around Petaluma.
A practical tip from the Reddit forums (my go-to for opinionated opinions): “Make sure to ask right away whether the person is 100 percent single.” Sadly, it seems this cannot be presumed!
This one seems important, too: “With app-daters, ghosting is all too common. If a date wasn’t a match and they reach out again, a short, kind ‘no thanks’ goes a long way. And if you are on the receiving end of silence, remember it usually says more about the other person than about you.”
Maybe a Matchmaking Service?
If dating apps sound like just too much (they probably would be for me), you might consider the more personalized approach of a matchmaking service. These employ actual human matchmakers to tailor your matches exactly to you. I did a fairly deep dive on these, and alas, few seemed worthy of your precious time, energy, and funds. A membership to an exclusive service can run from the mid-four-figures to the mid-fives—even the sixes!—and even if you could pay that, the best-reviewed companies I found had limited dating pools in Petaluma.
That said, if you like the idea of dating someone who doesn’t live in your immediate backyard, I found three highly-rated Bay Area services that invite singles to join their free networks at no cost. You won’t get a dedicated matchmaker actively hunting for you, but you’ll be in their system, and if a (well-vetted and quite possibly well-off) member matches your criteria, the service will reach out to connect you for a date.
Bay Area Matchmaking Services with Free Tiers Worth Checking Out:
Cinque Matchmaking
Shannon’s Circle
Kelleher International
Find Your Meetup Community
Since you’re a go-getter, I urge you to check out the listings on Meetup—a great place to find activities you love and people who love them too. In October and November, I found moonlit hikes, happy hours, and early-morning pickleball meetups hosted by these groups:
The Sonoma County Wanderers
The Canoe and Kayak Paddlers
Sonoma County Fifty-Plus Singles
If you’re the competitive type, word is the co-ed soccer leagues at Sports City in Santa Rosa are a secret singles scene.
Dance!
If you’re up for something really different, and drawn to creative, expressive, color-outside-the-lines personalities, a communal experience I can’t recommend highly enough is ecstatic dance. You can try it right here in Petaluma! I went to one in Marin last year and words can’t do it justice. I’ll just say the music was amazing, the people were lovely (many in their fifties and sixties), and the endorphins followed for weeks. Had I been a single lady, I might also have left there with a number or too—just saying.
Ecstatic dance too woo-woo for you? You might try:
Line dancing at the Crooked Goat or Torches. (Multiple friends rave about Torches, but it's a mostly-younger crowd, I believe?)
Swing Dancing (no partner required!) at Hall of the Above
Or Simply Say Hello
I’ll leave you with some parting words from various “Dating after Fifty” advice forums on good old Reddit:
“The honest answer... go to a bar. Find the handsome, somewhat sober one. The one nursing an old beer on their phone.”
“Quit looking. Go do what YOU love to do. The right person will present themselves at the right time.”
“Talk to good looking guys IRL. If I was single, it would make my month if a woman talked to me out of the blue.”
As for my friend Erica, the Hinge dater, she eventually tired of the apps and agreed to an old-fashioned set-up with her sister’s friend. On their first date, she jokingly asked if he was wearing bicycle shorts under his pants. He laughed and, after a beat, said no. “But his pause told me he had to think about it before answering,” Erica remembers. Sure enough, another cyclist! Eight months later, they’re going strong.
*
Got a question for me? Write to me here (please be as detailed as you can!) or drop it in the box at Porches HQ....
94
The House Project III.
Jess Brown hasn’t messed with the Victorian bones of her house. Doors, windows and walls are original. This decision not to redo, remodel, rethink - just let it be what it is - is refreshing, and there is a quiet beauty that permeates the house. Old wood stove, wood floors, white walls. Deep linen chairs and sofa - grays, browns, creams. Handmade linen sheers that hang from clips on rods in all the windows. Quilted bed spreads, embroidered dolls and pillows, vintage wood side chairs. Clusters of art - a blend of antique oil paintings and prints and drawings by her children, stacks of pottery. Calm, unfussy, ever-evolving.
Jess and her husband have gently and minimally added to the space in the 25 years since they bought the house. They only recently dared to hack away the layered linoleum floors in the kitchen, but instead of replacing or covering the imperfectly sanded floor boards, they sealed in the old paint and discolorations. Mudroom and bathroom floors eventually got new tile, but again, quiet moves. No big impositions. The new and the old, it all works together.
In the kitchen, while admiring the newish undercounter refrigerators, the metal drawer pulls made by a friend, and the vintage pine table, we talked about raising kids in Petaluma and took notes on how to create the home kids wants to return to in their twenties. The wall that divides the kitchen from the living room is covered with framed family photos. She says the wall can never come down - this is a permanent installation that cannot be disturbed. It has been the backdrop to so much life. She had the house all her kids' friends wanted to be in. Partly because of the skate ramp that used to be in the yard and largely, she says, because she kept the fridge stocked. She welcomed everyone, made them dinner, let them be their whole selves, call the space their own. Truly - the house and all the objects that fill it are beautiful, but like all the best interiors, they are evidence of a beautiful life.
Thank you jess brown for sharing your lovely home with us.
Photos by Rachel Colla...
181
Ernie's Tin Bar: A Century of Stories, Something New on Tap
You could drive past it a hundred times and never know what’s inside. Chris Nardone, one of Ernie’s owners, understands the pull. “People have always been curious about what that building is,” she says. That curiosity gets rewarded the moment you step through the door.
The building dates to 1923. Blacksmith Leo Altenreuther built a new shop and bar on the property after his old shop burned down. His sons, Ernie and Vince, turned the forge into a mechanics’ garage, and the bar stayed in the family. Today’s Ernie is the fourth generation of the family but the third to own the bar, which skipped his father. He inherited it at 21 and now runs it with his cousin Chris.
Chris arrived thirteen or fourteen years ago, fresh back from Aspen, and asked Ernie for work. The answer was no. A couple of months later, one of his bartenders went on maternity leave, and he called her to cover the shifts. Chris said, “Perfect.” She never left.
She’s also the person behind the taps. Ernie brought in draft beer more than twenty years ago, and his grandmother was sure it would ruin the place. Chris took over the list and has grown it from ten taps to about twenty, slowly, because trust takes time. Pilsner is the top seller, usually König, with Russian River’s Pliny the Elder close behind. Among the twenty or so beers on draft when I visited was Aecht Schlenkerla à la Grodziskie, one of Chris’s favorites. Schlenkerla is a Bamberg, Germany, institution, first mentioned in 1405 and run by the same family for six generations, which makes Ernie’s look young. This beer is its take on Grodziskie, a light, smoky Polish wheat beer that made a comeback in 2010, brewed with wheat malt Schlenkerla smokes itself over an open oak fire. At just 2.9% alcohol, it packs a lot of flavor. I had to try it. Smoky, fruity, hoppy, with a semi-bitter finish.
Chris never really stops working, even mid-conversation. While walking me through the finer points of the Schlenkerla, she called out “Have a great trip to Seattle!” to a couple of departing regulars and picked right back up without missing a beat. All the while, she scans the room, making sure no guest is left waiting.
I also tried the Plank Heller Weizenbock, from Brauerei Michael Plank in Laaber, Bavaria, a family brewery passed down through a long line of first-born sons, every one of them named Michael. It’s a pale, strong wheat beer, around 7.5% alcohol, and a two-time gold medal winner at the World Beer Cup. Rounded, with ripe fruit and a funky yeast character that added a lovely, feral complexity. When I mentioned it reminded me of a saison, Chris poured me a taste of Saison Dupont to compare. She’s happy to offer a sample of any beer on the board before you decide. Through it all, one beer stays at $1.75: Rainier, in a can.
The list goes up on chalkboards you have to climb a ladder to change, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. “This is real. This is this moment. That beer is gone.”
The room has changed around the beer, too. When Chris started, there was no stereo, only the TVs, and bare 100-watt bulbs lit the place. Now the lighting suits the building, and they’ve had live music for the past ten years, on an outdoor stage in the dry season and at the end of the bar the rest of the year. Food trucks come Friday through Sunday and keep people around longer.
Over its hundred-plus years, the building has been hit by vehicles numerous times. Chris was there for one of them, a busy Friday night in 2018. A driver heading south on Lakeville, eyes on a phone, turned left onto Stage Gulch in front of an F350 hauling five tons of hay. The truck couldn’t stop. It hit the car, spun 180 degrees, and slammed into the front of the bar. Inside, the only person affected was a man leaning on the window, who had his legs knocked out from under him but managed to catch himself. Chris and Ernie were both bartending. He remembers a loud noise; she remembers a dust cloud moving fast. A patio camera caught the reactions outside: one man shoved people aside and ran, while another calmly took a sip of his beer. The mark is still on the wall.
The few house rules, no phone calls and no smoking, exist to keep the vibe right for everyone in the room. Mostly, though, the place runs on community. Regulars treat it as their third space and tend to leave politics at the door. Chris remembers a longtime Bud Light drinker who, with some trust and a few sips of IPA, became a convert.
Coming up, Rocky Horror will be projected on Halloween, and Delta blues guitarist Reed Turchi plays on Thursday, November 19. It’s a free, pass-the-hat show, and Ernie’s is his only Northern California stop on his poetry book tour.
So the next time you’re heading down Lakeville and that tin building catches your eye, pull over. Ask Chris for a taste of something you’ve never heard of, grab a seat, and stay a while. The curiosity is worth rewarding.
Ernie's Tin Bar 5100 Lakeville Highway, Petaluma...
314
A Conversation with Dr. Antoinette Mason on Perimenopause, Menopause, and What to Do at Every Age
Antoinette Mason is an integrative family medicine physician. She practices primary care in the family medicine department at MarinHealth and at the Gravenstein Community Health Center in Sebastopol, a West County Health Centers clinic with a Wellness Center attached to it. Her focus is women's health, and within that, the perimenopause and menopause years.
"I really believe that women's health is foundational to societal health," she says.
That belief predates her training. Her mother was one of six girls, most of whom became nurses, and worked as a lactation consultant and parenting educator. Two of her siblings were born at home. She describes growing up in a culture where women took care of each other, their families and their community, and experienced that as empowering.
Medicine was not her first plan. She studied nutrition in college and expected to become a dietitian, then spent her twenties working as a birth doula, including in a volunteer program at San Francisco General, and doing nutrition policy research. She went to medical school at UC San Diego and chose her family medicine residency at Sutter in Santa Rosa specifically because it had an integrative medicine fellowship attached. By then she had concluded that conventional training was leaving things out. She remembers a lecture on inflammatory bowel disease in which the gastroenterologist told the room that it does not matter at all what people eat.
"I know that's not true. I studied nutrition for years. I know that there's food that helps people. And maybe the studies are mixed and maybe it's hard to do studies, but it just felt like that was representative of how we thought about health."
Her residency was heavy on women's health in the reproductive years, which is standard, and light on what comes after, which is also standard.
Mason is a certified menopause practitioner through The Menopause Society, the national nonprofit formerly known as the North American Menopause Society. Certification means an exam and a body of required study, and the Society maintains a public directory of practitioners who hold it.
In 2013, only about a fifth of OB/GYN residents said their program had a menopause curriculum. By 2023 it was closer to a third. And most of us treat our OB/GYN as the women's health expert.
Where to start, and what to be careful of
Her first piece of advice to anyone entering these years is to understand the information environment you are walking into.
"The social media universe currently, if you are in perimenopause or menopause, is you are being highly marketed to. And that can be a great place to start in some ways, because there's a lot of information, but there's a real dark side."
The dark side is that it is an industry. "People are really trying to sell you a lot of things," she says. There is real education on those platforms. You are being targeted, and being targeted is not the same as being given evidence based recommendations. She points people instead to The Menopause Society's website, for both the patient education and the practitioner directory.
She also wants people to understand how systemic the transition is. Estrogen and progesterone affect every cell in the body, so the symptom list goes well beyond the three things that get studied and treated most often, which are bleeding changes, hot flashes and disrupted sleep.
And she thinks the single most useful intervention is not clinical at all. In Sebastopol she runs a group program for women in menopause, where patients meet together for a series of sessions rather than being seen one at a time. She opens the first session with a graph of hormone levels across a woman's life, and she hopes to bring more spaces like it to the wider community.
The graph is also the source of her favorite observation. Look at puberty and look at perimenopause, she says, and they appear nearly identical: the same chaos of estrogen and progesterone, the ovaries either working out what they are going to do or transitioning away from it. Those two things frequently land in the same house at the same time, a mother in perimenopause and a daughter in puberty.
She draws the parallel further than the hormones. Adolescence is when people are working out who they are, and she says a lot of her patients in perimenopause describe doing exactly that again.
"What I have found is that just getting people together to talk about it makes more difference than any of the other things that we do on a solo individual care level. We're not supposed to do this alone."
What she would tell you, by life stage
Asked for the one thing to do for yourself at each stage, she started by refusing the premise.
"There's no silver bullet. And so much of health, 70 to 80%, is really about how you live your life."
By that she means what you eat, how you move your body, who you are in relationship with, how you are sleeping, and your stress, along with things as structural as what neighborhood you live in. What she is saying is that there are many factors, some of them within a person's control and some not, with varying degrees in between.
Teens: have a trusted person. "It doesn't have to be a parent, doesn't have to be a teacher, doesn't have to be anyone explicitly, but just having someone" you can go to if something happens or something frightens you. Alongside that, straightforward education about sexual health and staying safe, and knowing where the resources are in your community, because teenagers often do not want to bring these questions to a parent.
Twenties: learn how to exercise, with bone in mind. Peak bone mass is reached somewhere between the late teens and the late twenties, and what you build then sets the foundation for the rest of your life. Sports are not the same thing as learning to train. She also notes that exercise in this decade is doing double duty, given how common anxiety, depression and loneliness are among young adults.
Thirties and forties: move your body and stay connected, and let what that looks like evolve as you evolve and shift. Do not try to train the way you did at twenty two. Rest is not optional, it is the part where muscle is actually built, and overtraining is a real pattern she sees in women who are used to doing more.
Perimenopause onward: ask your clinician about vaginal estrogen. It is recommended by every major body for the genitourinary symptoms of menopause, and the evidence for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in postmenopausal women is the strongest part of the case, with the American Urological Association recommending it for that purpose. Mason also raises it for postpartum patients, where lactation produces a similarly low estrogen state, though that use is off label.
Mason's closing note was an invitation, and it is an incredible and consistent trait about her. She is deeply collaborative, and she keeps returning to the idea that this work does not happen in isolation, for patients or for practitioners. She met a number of the people she now works alongside through a women's health panel we put together, and has stayed in touch since.
So she would like to meet more. If you are in this community doing work in women's health, or work adjacent to it, and you want to collaborate, she wants to hear from you. It is the same thing she tells her patients: connection is the part that changes outcomes.
Thank you, Antoinette, for your time and care.
📷: by Tara Bodin
Antoinette, shown here with her town children (husband Bill Stark and pup in the background)...
349
How Poppy Ridge Got Its Name
When we bought our farm and ranch, the paperwork called it Westview Ranch. That puzzled us: many of the most spectacular views face south and east.
So we asked friends for suggestions. Three Lamb Farm and Ranch nodded to our three children and our fondness for lambs, but we had no livestock. Given the operating costs and abundance of gophers, I proposed "Go-fer Broke." No one thought that was as funny as I did.
The name finally became clear last year, when we lost Poppy, our white miniature poodle, after a long illness.
Poppy grew up with our children and became a devoted ranch companion - joining walks, greeting guests and supervising projects. She loved this place. She died here in 2025 at sixteen and is buried on the property.
Each spring, California poppies brighten the ridge. Poppy Ridge honors both the flowers on the hillside and the little dog who loved this place with us.
The name finally felt right....
ES
31
Life in Motion
Helen Wicks on her early beginnings, inspirations and what's up next for her in the performance continuum :
The parallels between how I approach a painting, and how someone else might approach a page or an instrument have always been compelling to me. There is a certain amount of comfort in knowing that the process is a shared language, and medium less of a barrier than previously assumed..
I was eager to sit down with interdisciplinary artist Helen Wicks, a Petaluma native who has recently moved back home after twenty years honing her craft as a choreographer, filmmaker, and performer.
An early encounter with a tumbling mat set the course for Helen's lifelong love of gymnastics. The passion dominated her grade school years, often training 6 or 7 hours a day, and she even homeschooled for a three year period in order to join the US National Team in Texas. “I loved the discipline of it”, she muses "and the speed...”
But the mounting physical toll gymnastics was taking couldn't be ignored. Even at a young age Helen understood that the chronic stress factors and sprains were going to put a time limit on how long she could do what she loved so much.
A lucky summer at Camp Winnarainbow, a sleep away camp teaching children circus and performing arts opened her mind to a future in movement at a lower cost to her body.
Her college years were spent at Bard in upstate New York. Not quite ready to commit professionally to the arts, she set out with a major in Psychology. “I wanted to be practical about my investment”, she laughs, but by sophomore year she was dancing full time.
Her years at Bard were hugely influential, putting her in the room with students of legendary choreographer Merce Cunningham,
Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, and dancing for visiting composers from New York Live Arts. For her student works, Helen turned to her own history, specifically to her great grandfather, acclaimed film composer Joseph Gershenson.
Gershenson began his career in the 1920’s, as a conductor and arranger for Yiddish Theater, vaudeville and silent films in NYC. He oversaw all the orchestras for RKO Theaters across the US. He was later hired by the Universal Studios music department, and promoted to department head. Between 1949 and 1969 he was credited as music supervisor on nearly 300 films that came out of the studio.
Helen, who has been archiving these projects, describes the performances as master achievements in vaudeville: “These artists would spend years perfecting their acts”, with the 1-2 minute recording being a culmination of hundreds of hours of practice.
The advent of “Talkies”, motion pictures with synchronized audible dialogue, posed a threat to these artists who relied solely on expressive movement to convey feeling.
“It’s really not that different from what performers are now facing with AI technologies in entertainment”.
It remains to be seen whether audiences will buy into entertainment generated exclusively by bots- but I kind of doubt it.
Last year California enacted SB 1050, legalizing full disclosure requirements for advertisers who prominently feature realistic AI-generated performers (effective 1/1/2027). (It’s important to note the disclosure requirement does not apply to ads for “expressive works” including films, television programs, streaming content, or docuseries.) This is a great first step, and I have been hopeful for a future that includes the choice being in the hands of the consumer. “It reminds me of the early days of ‘certified organics’” Helen adds. She draws from these recurring themes of art versus technology in her own work.
Footage from her Great-Grandfather’s 1930s musical shorts are recontextualized as layers between prerecorded images of herself and other dancers, then projected onto walls during live performances. Her movements are equal parts planned and improvisational. “I’ve always loved exploring the tension of discipline and intuition," she explains.
“Jazz was a big influence in school" she notes, pointing to the musical concepts of theme and variation, “the musicians move freely, but always find their way back to the theme”.
As an educator, Helen also believes in instilling the fundamentals. Practicing techniques ensure that there's a base for the artist to expand upon. Helen teaches creative movement, acrobatics, circus arts, visual arts and theater. She spent 10 years as the Dance and Visual Arts specialist at the Nueva School in SF. There she ran an integrated visual art, dance, and theater program for students Pre-K though 4th.
Her teaching and personal work function symbiotically, and the concepts she develops in her personal practice find their way into the work she does with young people and adults. She has just launched a dance workshop for students at Cherry Valley, and a December pop up for adults is open for registration. Helen is actively looking for a studio space to host longer term enrichment programming and camps.
I’m curious how she approaches a new piece of work, given the complexities I imagine going into one of her productions.
“It starts with History, then I research the sounds and music affiliated with that period, then comes the movement”. Objects play an important role in her work, items imbued with both historical significance and emotional connotation for the dancer to engage with.
Her shows are physical, and dancers are often rigged to beams on the ceiling or tethered to walls wearing climbing harnesses so that their movements on the ground can be super amplified. The movement’s a combined representation of her specialties in acrobatics, modern dance, and clowning. The space can be a deciding factor for the work, and ideal conditions include high ceilings where she can be safely attached to an industrial beam. “But I can make it work with a mini trampoline rigged to a tree,” she laughs.
She will be performing an abbreviated version of her current show "Radio Vision” at the Petaluma WTRSHED November 14, from 4-7pm.
“I feel like I’ve been developing this piece since I was a child”, she jokes, having used the music her great-grandfather directed for Thoroughly Modern Millie in her gymnastic tumbling routines.
The work examines the invisible roles artists play in each other's lives as guides and mentors, and the responsibility of creatives to maintain the integrity of this continuum into the future.
Helen will be performing with a live installation in the Mezzanine, with two opportunities to see 10 minute excerpts from "Radio Vision” at 5 and 6:30.
It's a big art night at the Watershed, with Deborah Seal exhibiting new works, a fresh show at Magic Shop Studios Art and Gallery, and open studios....
132
Petaluma Job Board: October 30
This week’s selection includes work in local government, technology, marketing, education, and holiday shipping, plus a one-day theater gig. It includes part-time and full-time roles this week. All were posted recently.
City of Petaluma is hiring an Administrative Assistant for its Community Development Department. You’d help residents with inquiries, prepare correspondence, maintain records and coordinate meetings. Full-time in Petaluma. Apply by November 11, or sooner. Note: the recruitment closes early if it reaches 100 applications. ($63,357–$77,043/year)
Sonoma State University is looking for a Health, Well-Being and Access Analyst to support its counseling, student health and disability services. You’d help students navigate services and keep clinic administration and confidential records running smoothly. Full-time, on-site in Rohnert Park. Apply by November 10 for full consideration. (Expected starting pay: $4,799/month, plus university benefits)
O’Reilly Media, the publisher and online learning company, is hiring a Field Marketing Specialist. You’d organize events and trade shows, coordinate campaigns and measure their results. Requires three years of relevant marketing experience. Primarily remote, with occasional Santa Rosa office visits and event travel; applicants must live within 60 miles of the office. ($60,000–$80,000/year)
HeyTutor is hiring In-Person Tutors to work with Petaluma elementary school students after school. You’d lead small groups through provided lessons, support positive behavior and track progress. Applicants need tutoring experience and either an associate degree or current college enrollment. Part-time, approximately 16 hours a week, with availability Monday through Friday between 1 and 6 p.m. required. ($22–$28/hour)
Raven Performing Arts Theater needs a Projectionist for November 14 in Healdsburg. You’d run three screenings from a Mac, monitor microphone levels and adjust the house lighting. Training is provided on the day; reliable transportation and references are required. ($200 flat for the day)
ORO Editions, the architecture, art and design publisher, is looking for a PR and Marketing Assistant in Novato. You’d help promote books, coordinate reviews, maintain its database and support work before publication. Part-time, on-site, with potential to become full-time; local candidates are preferred. Interviews are planned for November, with an estimated December start. The listing expires November 4. (Pay not disclosed in the listing.)
McEvoy Ranch needs a Seasonal Production & Shipping Associate in Petaluma for the holiday rush. You’d pick, pack and label orders, assemble gift sets and help receive shipments. Full-time and temporary, starting immediately and running through the end of the year. The schedule is Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., plus some Saturdays through Christmas. ($20–$22/hour)
Saga Robotics is hiring a Deployment and Support Technician in Santa Rosa. You’d maintain and troubleshoot agricultural robots that use ultraviolet light to help vineyards control fungal diseases. Requires one to two years of experience servicing mechanical or electrical equipment, a driver’s license and flexibility for nights and weekends. Full-time, with work in the shop and at farm sites. ($30/hour, plus health insurance and paid time off)
Sonoma County Library is hiring a Librarian III to lead children’s and teen services at the Petaluma Regional Library on Fairgrounds Drive. You’d develop youth programs, supervise branch staff and build partnerships with schools and community groups. Requires a master’s in library science and four years as a professional librarian; Spanish is preferred. Full-time, 40 hours a week. Applications close November 16. ($97,073.60–$121,243.20/year)
Sundrop Sauna, 5684 Lakeville Hwy, has recently reposted an opening for a part-time Sauna Host. You’d welcome guests, guide them through sauna and cold plunge sessions, operate the propane stove and fire pits with training, and keep the space clean between sessions. Mostly weekends, in six- to eight-hour shifts; a driver’s license and dependable vehicle are required. Perks include free sauna access for you, friends and family. ($20/hour)...
100
Where can you blend your own perfume in Petaluma?
"We are high on stuff and low on experience," Faith Parker told me when I arrived at the Fragrance Lab inside Boho Bungalow. She wanted her shop to offer something you can't get online. "We're just all connected to the computer," she says. "To get offline and indulge in your senses is a luxury."
I went to the Fragrance Lab to blend my own perfume. Faith walked me through it herself, and it's a lot simpler than I expected. There are thirty-six scents on the counter, divided into three rows: twelve top notes, twelve middle notes and twelve base notes. The first step is to smell all of them and check off the ones you like on a card that Faith designed. "It doesn't have to go with anything else," she says. "We're collecting data."
As I went, she explained how the three groups work. Top notes are what you smell first, and they only last about thirty minutes. Base notes linger for days. "If you spray a perfume on and then go and grab your scarf, like three or four days later, you're gonna smell all those base notes," she says. Those are scents like smoke, amber and cedar. Middle notes are the bridge between the two.
Faith recommends one to three scents from each group, but she says there are no rules. She's had a kid put a drop of every single scent into one beaker. ("It didn't smell as bad as you'd imagine.")
I told Faith that I'm a fan of earthy fall scents, and my choices backed that up. I checked off sage, tomato vine, sandalwood and vetiver, and my favorite of all was tobacco. Faith helped me turn that list into three test formulas, and we placed a drop of each scent on strips of blotter paper.
Then came Faith's favorite part. She mixed up the blotters and had me compare them two at a time: A or B? B or C? There is a small dish of coffee beans on the counter to clear your nose in between, like a palate cleanser. I went with option C, which was a blend of sage, sandalwood, tobacco, vetiver and a little bit of rose.
We measured it out together, heavier on the sandalwood and tobacco and lightest on the sage and rose. Faith says it will smell even better in about two weeks, once the molecules blend together, "like lasagna or soup." The last step was adding the label, and then we were done!
Faith opened her first Boho Bungalow in 2012 on the Bohemian Highway in Occidental, which is where the name comes from. The Petaluma shop followed in 2019. She started her Bohemian Botanicals line around 2017, and over time she got more and more into scented products. She wanted to teach candle making, but the only space she had was her office upstairs, and she didn't want a class that wasn't accessible to everyone. When the owner of the building passed away, Faith asked the family if they'd sell. She was able to buy the building in 2022 and open the candle bar next door.
Not long after, Faith wanted to go deeper into single scents, so she traveled to Grasse, France, known as the world's perfume capital, and took perfumery classes, showing up every day to learn about extraction, scent families and blending. Most of her scents come from France, and she hopes to go back for more training next Spring.
Next up, Faith is bringing the experience to her neighbors at Crooked Goat Brewing for Pints & Perfume: Holiday Perfume & Cologne Night on November 19th, where you can blend your own perfume or cologne with friends, over a beer. After fifteen years in retail, she's still learning new techniques and developing new products, and she loves sharing that knowledge with her customers. "It's so fun because I get to create new things every day."
From November 1st through 15th, Faith is offering up to 30 Porches members a FREE “Blend Your Own Rollerball Perfume” experience at the Boho Bungalow Fragrance Lab, a $39 value. Click here to take advantage of this amazing offer!
♦️♦️♦️
📷 by Scout DeNatale Photography, courtesy of Boho Bungalow
Pints & Perfume: Holiday Perfume & Cologne Night is Thursday, November 19th, from 6 to 8pm at Crooked Goat Brewing, 110 Howard Street. Tickets are $65 and include a custom 30ml bottle, gift-wrapped. All ages are welcome, and guests 21+ can enjoy beer and wine with ID....
125
Jennifer Mygatt Tatum at Magic Shop Studios
Jennifer Mygatt Tatum, mixed media artist and founder of The Magic Shop, turned her very first studio into an artist collective. In 2018, Jennifer got the opportunity to rent a small studio space in HopeBuilt, a family run cabinet company, in an industrial corner of downtown Petaluma. When the business sold a year later, everyone but Jennifer moved out. Jennifer had found how special having this studio was, stating “When I got this studio, it was the first time I had a studio that was separate from my house, and it changed everything because when you have a dedicated space to create, and you just say, "This is where I'm going to create." Knowing how impactful this space was, and determined to make this space open to other artists, she approached the building owner, Josh Peterson, with an idea. In January of 2020, she started to put the word out to other artists she knew that she was starting an artist collective. When the pandemic hit just months later, Jennifer filled up the space with artists looking for more space outside of their homes, taking her vision and creating a reality- though with social distancing protocols in place. The artists were together, but separate. With a waitlist forming, Jennifer asked Josh about creating temporary walls and making more studio space downstairs. He had it done within 2 weeks. When Jennifer asked Josh about creating more light, he had put skylights in within a week. “I went away for the week, and then I came back, and they had the skylight- I was in tears. I was like, he totally believes in this. Yeah, he totally believes in this.” The Magic Shop still has a waitlist for artists, with a supportive energy amongst the artists. Almost every Saturday, The Magic Shop opens their gallery for residents to come check out what work is currently being displayed. Every three months there are new pieces in the gallery and the artists open up their studios for people to see what work is being created, to have space to create and see creation. The Magic Shop is similar to Tatum’s other mixed media projects: done with a passion to create. Stay tuned for Jennifer’s next feature, touching on the process or her own artistic process. The next open studios at Magic Shop is November 14th from 4-7....
277
Become a Founding Member of Porches
We are wrapping up the beta period soon and will publicly launch Porches in Petaluma on December 1 along with the paid membership. Between now and then, beta testers can purchase a Founding Membership at 50% off the standard $100 annual price as a thank-you for your early support. These next few weeks will be the only opportunity to join as a founding member.
♦️♦️♦️
Why we’re building Porches
A funny thing about the technology in our pockets is that it tends to pull our attention away from where we live. Instead of bringing us closer to the people around us—the ones we could invite to dinner, whose shops we walk into, whom we pass on the street—our phones transport our consciousness somewhere else. We can know what a stranger thousands of miles away ate for breakfast or did on vacation, yet we barely know the people living next door or what’s going into the storefront downtown.
The dynamic is leading us into a strange and lonely future.
But what if there’s a way the internet can help people feel more rooted in the place where they live and connected to the people they share it with?
At the start of this year, my husband Sachin Monga and I had just moved our family to Petaluma. We were looking for that sense of connection ourselves, but we couldn’t find much online that helped us.
So we got to work.
Six months in
We started with a 2D map, a directory of people and places, and a simple daily newsletter about what was happening around town. In April, the first dozen Scouts, the people who share insights and stories from across town, took a leap of faith to join this nascent version of Porches, sharing their knowledge and inviting their friends. Six months later, there are a few thousand of us here, and it’s grown entirely through word of mouth. We’re blown away by what you’ve helped create for Petaluma.
Gathering local knowledge.
Three dozen Scouts have published hundreds of Features, shining a light on the people, places, and happenings around town. We’ve dug into questions like why the lights keep going out and what that weird smell was a few weeks ago. New businesses like Bool Wines and the Sundial House Inn have introduced themselves to neighbors before opening their doors. It feels like we’re all developing a sixth sense for our town—a collective intelligence built from what each of us knows.
One of my highlights from the beta was hearing from a couple who had been planning to leave Petaluma after living here for many years. After just a few weeks on Porches, they’d discovered so many new places to visit, things to do, and people to meet that they decided to stay. They said to us, “We fell back in love with it.”
Getting off our phones and into the world.
Hundreds of people have gathered in person for happy hours, art shows, movie nights, curated dinners, clothing and book swaps, and candlelit living-room concerts. Hundreds more have ventured out on the town for a special locals-only experience at businesses as part of On The House.
Business owners, artists, and entrepreneurs tell us that stories shared on Porches are bringing more people through their doors and helping their sales. And many others have told us they’ve discovered puppet shows, picnic spots, places to drop off used oil, secret spots for discounts, and more.
Building a real-life social network.
In my view, the very best part of the beta has been hearing about the real person-to-person connections being made here.
People have used the app to self-organize in so many interesting ways, forming mahjong groups, starting arts & crafts clubs, exchanging homegrown fruit, swapping notes on software tools, and delivering beef bones to neighbors.
One beta tester told us that after posting about an upcoming move, someone from Porches reached out and offered to help her move furniture, and they quickly became dear friends. She said the experience of friendship and generosity has changed her life.
Stories like these are why we want Porches to be here for the long haul. So today we’re taking an important step: introducing a real business model to sustain it.
Why memberships?
Every business makes money somehow, and how it does so dictates what it becomes.
The problem with ad-supported apps is that the people using the app and the people paying for the app are different groups, with different goals. The only way the platform can reconcile the two is by trying to capture as many eyeballs as possible. It helps explain why so many social apps have come to revolve around an endless feed—the business model is to harvest screen time to sell you something.
Paid memberships have a magical way of aligning incentives. Porches is 100% designed to serve you—its members—and not third-party advertisers. It means we can build an app that gets you off your phone and into the world, because that’s what you value. It means that we can reinvest proceeds of the membership back into the network and the town itself, through the Scout program, live events, and partnerships with local businesses.
As more members join, we can put more resources into the stories, features, and experiences that make Porches worthwhile.
How will the membership work?
First off, there will still be a way for non-members to enjoy Porches. Everyone will be able to explore the map, read the daily letter, and access a selection of stories for free.
But members, for $12 per month, or $100 per year, will get the full experience, including:
Insights into Petaluma: access to the complete event calendar, member directory, job board, and entire catalog of stories.
Live programming: access to tickets to all Porches events, at no additional cost. These include things like living-room concerts, salons, movie screenings, and dinners. Some events will be small, memorable experiences with limited capacity, and others will be big, lively experiences for all members. All members will be able to access free ticketing (first come, first served) for the experiences.
Publishing participation: members will be able to publish their own posts, comment on anything, create their own events, and send and receive direct messages.
We also want to ensure the membership model doesn't deter people who are genuinely interested in and invested in Petaluma. Students, as well as anyone working in public service for Petaluma (like public school teachers, for example), will be able to write to us for a 25% discount on the standard membership. And if it's out of reach but you’d love to still be a member, please write to us, and we'll happily extend a complimentary membership.
Members will also receive guest passes. Each one gives a friend full access to Porches for 10 days, so they can see what it’s about or come to an event when they’re visiting from out of town.
Founding Memberships for beta testers
As a thank-you to all beta testers, we’re offering Founding Memberships with pay-what-you-want pricing for the first year, starting at $50. The offer is available now through November 30, before our public launch on December 1.
Founding Members will also have their invite limit lifted. Between now and November 30, you can invite as many people as you like into the beta, and everyone you invite will have access to the same offer.
If you decide to become a Founding Member, you won’t be billed until December 1. And whether or not you join now, nothing about your experience will change until then. You’ll keep full access to the app, the ability to post and comment, and all event programming through the end of November. We’re extremely grateful you’ve been part of these first months with us.
You can become a Founding Member here →
What’s next?
On December 1, we’ll open standard membership to everyone. At that time, Porches will be available in the App Store (no more TestFlight!) and out of beta on Android.
Being out of beta does not mean that we won’t keep learning and improving the service. We’ll continue developing new features, creating more events and experiences around town, and improving Porches with your feedback.
Thank you
Thank you for the feedback, the bug reports, the coffees, the friends you brought along, and the patience with every rough patch as we developed this concept with you and alongside you.
We believe the internet can bring us closer to home, and that we’re building something special together here in Petaluma. We hope you’ll join us.
♦️♦️♦️
Fiona and the Porches team (Sachin Monga, Lauren Smith Lizzie Wallack, and Joel Klabo)...
4510