Event Description:
In the spirit of this November's Step It Up event to honor leaders past and present, we invite you to join us on November 3rd at Helen Putnam Regional Park to honor one of Petaluma's most beloved and influential environmental heroes, the late Helen Putnam.

Helen was instrumental in her dual roles of Mayor and citizen in trailblazing what would become Petaluma's current Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), taking the issue of a city's right to control their growth all the way to the Supreme Court. The UGB has been a benchmark in our community for keeping a balance between development and open space, helping us ensure that future Petalumans will be able to enjoy clean air, clean, plentiful water, an abundant local economy and rich, diverse open spaces for generations to come.

A thriving network of locally grown economy is essential to our health as a community. Today the City of Petaluma faces many of the same environmental challenges that Helen faced. We ask our grassroots leaders working together with local elected community leaders along with leaders in business to create and implement smart green solutions that will provide our community with clean air, water conservation and open space for the next seven generations.

Join us on November 3 at 12:00 for a "locavore" celebration of Helen's legacy.

Step It Up November 3 is a potluck event! We celebrate with locally grown and prepared food. Bring a dish prepared with food from your garden or from the local organic produce markets and farms to share.

In the spirit of carbon reduction we will be car pooling from the Theatre District parking garage. We encourage friends to arrive between 11:30 and 11:45 and connect with each other across from the garage, near the Petaluma Yacht Club to participate in car pooling. And of course we ask all those that can to bike to the park.

Some of the speakers scheduled to appear to celebrate Putnam's legacy and a vibrant locavore community include Mayor Pamela Torliatt, Former councilmember Matt Maguire, Grayson James of Petaluma Bounty, Trathen Heckman of Daily Acts, and Casey Anderson of the Petaluma High Environmental Club. Musicians, poets and a face painter will be on hand to help with the celebration.

By inviting grassroots and elected leaders we create additional opportunity for Petalumans to continue Helen's legacy and vision promoting a healthy "locavore" community and addressing the big challenges of the national Step it Up movement:

1. Reduce carbon emissions by 80% by the year 2050

2. No new coal-fired power plants

3. Create 5 million green jobs, conserving 20% of our energy, by 2015

The event takes place from 12:00 to 3:30 pm on November 3 at the picnic area in Helen Putnam Regional Park.

Contact Jaimey Walking Bear at jaimey@jwbdigitalpro.com or Alexandra Appel at alexaea@comcast.net for more information.

Location:
Helen Putnam Regional Park

Directions:
From the North: Take Hwy 101 South to the Petaluma Blvd. exit. Proceed south on Petaluma Blvd until you reach Western Avenue and turn right. From the South: Take Hwy 101 North to the Petaluma Blvd. exit. Proceed north until you reach Western Avenue and turn left. From Downtown Petaluma/Western Ave. westbound until you reach Chileno Valley Rd. Turn left and continue until you reach the park address.