Time to bid farewell to Shorelines

June 7, 2006

By LYNN SCHNITZER
FOR THE ARGUS-COURIER

This is the 1,035th Shorelines column that I've written and it's without a doubt, the hardest, because, well, it's also the last one. I started writing Shorelines in May 1986, taking over from the estimable Katie Nelson.

There were other Shorelines authors, over the years, most notably in my mind anyway, Dillon Beach matriarch Winifred Lawson, who wrote about fun things like card parties and who attended them in the mid-1960s. Winifred's only daughter, Helen, allowed me to read her mother's handwritten copy as well as the actual published columns that she painstakingly pasted onto lined notebook paper as a way of preserving them in the mid-1960s.

Now Shorelines is going to go electronic -- there will be a Shorelines blog (that's "Web log" for you who have never heard the word blog before) and it will appear in a couple of weeks or so.

I'd like to thank everyone who ever sent me a note, called me to have their kid's birthday remembered, wrote press releases and shared them with me, and the multitude of kind souls who allowed me to interview them.

Most notable of these was my first interviewee, the late Wes Hulbert, who had the best collection of odds and ends from cars, boats, plumbing, you name it, crammed into the outbuildings at his place in Tomales.

We had a wonderful time talking about his family and his memories until the very end of the interview, when he asked me to please not print a word of it, because he didn't want to draw his neighbor's attention to him and his, ahem, collection. And so, alas, his interview never got published. However, lots of other people's interviews made it into print and I'm glad I got to talk to them.

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The suits at the Argus-Courier have decided that Petaluma needs its own column and they have asked me to write it. Thus I am in charge of reviving "Egg City Beat." I'm delighted at the opportunity to get to know more of you and tell your stories, but I need your help! Egg City Beat is going to be different than Shorelines -- no more birthdays, graduations, pancake breakfasts and spaghetti dinner announcements, but hey, if you go to these things, or you're out anywhere around Petaluma and have a tasty tidbit to share, please let me know, OK? Here's how -- send an e-mail to eggcitybeat@gmail.com or call and leave me a message at 878-2508.

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And now, to wrap up the last Shorelines column, here are the potential candidates for graduation at Tomales High School, which takes place at 8 p.m. Friday in the THS gym: Luis Alvarez, Jack Beck, Kelly Boyle, Alyssa Casarotti, Brian Donathon, Ignacio Franco, Oscar Gamez, Brady Greene, James Harston, Israel Hernandez, Jessica Hill, Gregory Hodges, Sylvie Huhn, Trevor Hyde, Catherine Janes, Jillian Kehoe, Tim Kehoe, Patrick Kirby, Petra Lamberson, Jean-Baptist Le Pogam, Ben Livingston, Patrick Lunny, Sean Lunny, Martin Martinez, Jorge Mata, Courtney McIsaac, Agustin Mora, Joe Moreda, John Paul Norris, Erika Pelayo, Josh Perucchi, Craig Peters, Leonel Reynoso, Cesar Romo, Nicole Schumacher, Jared Spainhour, Neil Spaletta, Francesca Spinardi, Luis Tirado, Efrain Tolentino, Annika Urquhart, Travis Vail and Matt Volpert. Co-valedictorians are Greg Hodges and Catherine Janes; Petra Lamberson is salutatorian. Congratulations to the Class of 2006!

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Happy birthday to everyone!

(Contact Lynn Schnitzer at 878-2508 or e-mail shorelines@gmail.com)