Women in Wine

SUMMER 2006 Lompoc Valley MAGAZINE Women in Wine Fast, City-wide Wireless Internet Access Now available throughout Lompoc The City of Lompoc’s Wireless Internet Service Only Daily Rate: $ 99 $ 99 per each 19 per month 4 24-hour period For more information, visit www.LompocConnect.com or call 805 875 8750 LompocConnect is a trademark of the City of Lompoc. LOMPOC VALLEY MAGAZINE A CITY OF LOMPOC PUBLICATION [ EDITOR’S NOTE ] CITY ADMINISTRATOR Gary P. Keefe CITY ATTORNEY Stephen Palmer Sharon D. Stuart LOMPOC HAS A HISTORY OF STRONG WOMEN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kathleen A. Griffith dating back to Mrs. J.B. Pierce, the fierce housewife CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Kris Curran who appointed herself Lompoc’s Carrie Nation and Danita Rodriguez Ana Maya gathered a band of ladies to fight the evils of alcohol Vicki Andersen Carol Oliveira in 1883. Fortunately, times have changed and now Neda DeMayo Joyce Howerton there are six ladies in Lompoc who specialize in ILLUSTRATIONS Ricardo de los Angeles handcrafted winemaking and at least 14 others who Willdan MAP provide support services. Western Gate Publishing PRODUCTION Azina Communications PRINTING The Summer 2006 issue of Lompoc Valley Magazine features several dynamic female leaders in the Tin Cup Press community, including local winemaker Kris Curran. Curran discusses her adventures in the “Wine Ghetto” PHOTOGRAPHERS Kimmerlee Curyl and at Sea Smoke Cellars, one of the highest-rated Pinot Noir labels in the country. She also describes the K. A. Griffith Kirk Irwin recent Sta. Rita Hills Winegrowers Alliance “Wine & Fire: Igniting the Passion” event held at La Purisima Stephen Palmer Danita Rodriguez Mission and Rancho la Viña in June. Steve Schuler-Jones Superintendent of La Purisima Mission State Historic Park Danita Rodriguez discusses the mission as a Frank Staub venue for special events. The fountain and church provided a lovely venue for the SRHWGA “Wine & Fire”event. The historic, rustic mission offers a unique setting for weddings and other special events. Hispanic leader Ana Maya reflects on the niche market she has carved out as a businesswoman who On the cover (from top): caters to the local Hispanic community. She also describes the Hispanic community’s role in local events Karen Steinwachs, Katie such as the Flower Festival and Cinco de Mayo Festival. Kennesen, Kris Curran, Kathy Muralists Vicki Andersen and Carol Oliveira tell the history of the Lompoc Mural Society and discuss Joseph, Chrystal Clifton, future projects. In particular, the society is working with world famous illusionist John Pugh to create a Deborah Hall, Christina Sports, mural on Sissy’s north wall in Art Alley. The fundraising effort is underway. Mary Russell, Rebecca Work, Activist Neda DeMayo discusses her passion for protecting America’s heritage breed horses. Her horse Lorna Kreutz and Kathy sanctuary, Return to Freedom, provides a wild horse conservatory and youth educational programs. RTF is Palacios. Cover photography located on Jalama Road, just outside of Lompoc, and welcomes visitors and volunteers. by Stephen Palmer. Former mayor and nonprofit guru Joyce Howerton advocates for participation, one way or another, in local nonprofit organizations. Joyce works with the Fund for Santa Barbara, which provides financial resources for numerous local nonprofit organizations and programs. Beneficiaries have included the American Association of University Women’s Tech Trek scholarships and the Filipino American Heritage Mural Project. The centerfold map highlights wine tasting opportunities around the Valley. Three wine tasting venues are now located in the city: D’Vine, Sissy’s and Palmina Wines. Fiddlehead, Ampelos and other wineries are open by appointment or during special events. In the second half of the magazine, be sure to read about the projects that are moving forward with full steam. Lompoc is burgeoning with new homes and new wineries, and several Old Town projects are in the works. Stay tuned! CITY OF LOMPOC 100 Civic Center Plaza Lompoc, CA 93438 www.cityoflompoc.com Kathleen A. Griffith 805-736-1261 or 877-730-1261 ©2006 CITY OF LOMPOC, CALIFORNIA Editor-in-Chief All rights reserved, no part of this publication may be produced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher. Contents of this publication were received or derived from sources deemed reliable, but neither the publisher, its members, staff or vendors, nor the City of Lompoc are responsible for any errors in or omissions from this publication. 2 | Lompoc Valley Magazine | Summer 2006 SUMMER 2006 Lompoc Valley MAGAZINE 4 Features 20 City of Lompoc A Woman in Wine ........................................4 Letter from the Mayor ...............................20 A Woman with a Mission ............................6 Current City Projects .................................21 An Hispanic Businesswoman .......................8 Economic Development Resources ............22 Women of the Mural Society .....................10 City Utilities ...............................................24 A Mother of America’s Wild Horses ..........12 A Volunteer Maven ....................................14 25 Economic Profile Things to Do & See ....................................16 Real Estate & Housing ...............................25 Industry & Workforce .................................26 28 Community Resources 18 Lompoc Valley Map Higher Education .......................................28 K-12 & Youth Activities ..............................29 Social Service Organizations .....................30 Other Elected Officials ...............................31 Transportation & Safety .............................32 Medical Care & Services ............................33 Dining & Lodging ......................................34 Community Events ....................................35 Stephen Palmer Summer 2006 | Lompoc Valley Magazine | 3 A WOMAN IN WINE BY KRIS CURRAN Trying to find a shady parking spot to ensure my four German Shepherds’ comfort while lunching at Sissy’s restaurant with fellow winemakers, I encountered one of the beautiful murals that adorn many buildings here in Lompoc. I noticed the quote regarding Mrs. J. B. Pierce and the vigilante women who, like most women of the time, objected to their husbands’ and the community’s consumption of alcohol. They had apparently “strung a rope around a building, yanked it off its foundation and pulled it for a block, booze spilling out as it went.” At first I questioned how many women industry embraces. You see, unlike alcohol in (really, I was working), I voiced concern that it would take to perform this mighty feat, general, wine is a holistic venture, one that the new winery would not be completed in then I wondered if they were stronger revolves around family, friends, food and time. Bob agreed and suggested that we find than modern day women. Logically, I also conversation. In the absence of any of these a warehouse to become our “temporary” questioned the size of the building and the elements, wine ceases to be the thought- home if construction was not completed lack of stringent building codes of the day. provoking enjoyment that it is. It is a social prior to harvest. I located some vacant space More humorously, I wondered whether endeavor, a passion meant to be shared and in Morris Sobhani’s Industrial Park here in they dragged that ole’ house anywhere experienced with the greater community of Lompoc. Fast forward six years, five harvests near what is now Industrial Way and I mankind. It is because of this experience and and numerous expansions, and Sea Smoke chuckled at the thought that the spilled working harvest at Sanford Winery while is now at home in “the Ghetto”. booze may have laid the foundation for a attending Santa Barbara City College that “The Ghetto” refers to the wineries located burgeoning community of wineries here in I pursued a career as a winemaker. After in Sobhani’s buildings. The name came the Lompoc Valley. completing my degree at Fresno State, I was about one day when someone called me Lompoc, once a temperance colony, is fortunate to come home and land a job as requesting a catered lunch and wine tasting. now home to numerous wineries producing assistant winemaker at Cambria Winery in It was obvious that they had never seen our arguably some of the best wines in the Santa Maria. I left in 1998 to start Koehler facility as it was during a very cold spell in the country, and therein lies the irony. The fact Winery on Foxen Canyon Road. During this middle of winter. It is often colder inside the that women initiated this very radical act time I also launched my own label, Curran. cellars than outside — great for the wines to eliminate alcohol from their community I was then hired as winemaker for Sea but not for our guests or the winemakers! and that women now make up a good Smoke Cellars in 2000. I never imagined that I explained that, unlike many other wineries, percentage of the workforce in our local I would be crafting our estate-grown Pinot we did not have guest facilities (not even wineries shows a dynamic change in societal Noirs in the town of Lompoc. Bob Davids, heating!) and that our winery was not attitudes and a fortunate realization that Sea Smoke’s owner, had been working for located in a picturesque vineyard. I thought wine is unavoidably becoming part of the several years on architectural plans for his that our location was something akin to a fabric of our culture. new winery slated to be built on property he ghetto; a group of winemakers

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