For Valentine’s Day, we asked staff members to share some of their thoughts and memories on what has helped spark their love affair with Sonoma County:
Elly Grogan, Senior Philanthropic Officer
I spent a good part of my childhood on a forty acre apple ranch outside Occidental. It was a magical place to be as a kid; I could roam and explore and wonder and imagine to my heart’s content. I stomped in puddles and got stuck in the mud, climbed trees, got happily lost, played in redwood forests, and marveled at how small I felt in such a big and beautiful world. That early, deep connection to nature has shaped who I am today, and is a big part of why I love Sonoma County, with its agricultural heritage and wild open spaces.
Ann Butterfield | VP for Finance and Operations
In the mid-‘80s I would travel up to Santa Rosa for business purposes from the Peninsula. It always seemed so far away, but every time I made the drive and the beautiful rural scenery rolled out before me, I felt a sense of calm. I had an inkling that one day I’d end up living here. Years later, when I had the opportunity to take a position in Sebastopol, we jumped at the chance and, 20 years later, my wife and I have raised our kids here and we smile every day knowing that we live in this beautiful place of Sonoma County.
Ariana Díaz De León
The first time I went to Armstrong Grove, I marveled at the coolness of the forest, the tallness of the trees, the dampness of the ferns—it completely filled my senses. I felt like I was in another world, where I could be truly present and connected, with the mindfulness to notice the tiniest of things. I have gone back hiking many times and my experience there always reminds me that it is a deeply spiritual getaway in the heart of Sonoma County that makes all my worries melt away.
