JUNE 28, 20l3
I traveled up to the lovely, but very warm Hanna Winery for the Why Hunger fundraising party, with my publicist, Joe, and his companion, Mary. Hanna winery founded in l985 is located in southern end of the Alexander Valley in Healdsburg, CA. We braved the Friday night commute traffic, which was difficult, and finally reached this lovely winery on a hillside, after a pleasant 2 hr. drive, mostly on the backroads of the valley. We actually past a street sign on those backroads, that said, “no where road.”
The staff was very welcoming to us, upon our arrival, and everyone started the evening in the air-conditioned tasting room, enjoying white and red wines. I went up to one gentleman, asked how far he came to be here tonight, he said, “New Jersey.” His name is Oliver Lake, and he had flew in to SFO this morning, for a gig in Healdsburg Center for the Arts the following night. Oliver, plays the sax., and told me his first name stands for peace. Oliver also told me he lives in a small town in New Jersey, the same town where that small cafe is, the one that “The Soprano’s had there last meal on the acclaimed H.B.O. TV show.
I met the very tall Jan Chapin in the tasting room, wearing a striking dark green dress. Jan and her trio were that night’s entertainment. Jan is daughter of the late, great, Harry Chapin, who’s hit songs included, “Cats in the Cradle”, and “Taxi.” Harry died in l981, in a car accident. Jan chairs the board of directors of WhyHunger, her dad was deeply committed to fight world hunger.
We sat outside under a beautiful giant oak tree, which shaded us from the 95 degree heat, and enjoyed a lovely buffet dinner, tasty, mouth watering pizza, salad, desserts, and as much wine as we wanted. We enjoyed talking to a nice couple from Mill Valley, they said the drive took them 3 hrs.
All in all, it was a wonderful evening, and I got to catch up on news with Mary and Joe, and hear more about they 7 week recent trip to England, and France. One place they went to, I actually have seen, StoneHendge. Joe, told me it was very cold there when they visited this great landmark, not far from the Winchester Cathedral.