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PERMIT NO. 15
Yountville, CA
94599
Postal Patron Local
ECRWSS
Vol. 17, No. 37
a 21st century newspaper serving the heart of the Napa Valley
Lincoln Theater Hires New
Director With Local Roots
Napa Valley Performing
Arts Center at Lincoln Theater
has hired Justin Ashforth as its
new Executive Director.
He replaces industry veteran Robert Cole, who had been
the interim artistic and executive director of the theater
since March 25 of last year.
Ashforth has a strong background in fundraising, fiscal
management and the arts. He
brings a passionate vision and
a plan for financial stability to
the Lincoln Theater, said a
statement released by the
Theater’s Board of Directors
on Wednesday.
JUSTIN ASHFORTH
“I’m extremely excited to
have someone with Justin’s
personal experience and passion for the arts joining the
Lincoln Theater team. Justin’s
vision for the theater and its
place in the Napa Valley experience is just what I was looking for in our new Executive
Director,” commented Board
President John Dunbar.
Ashforth has the theater in
his blood. He was born in
Manhattan, N.Y., to into his
father’s theater family. His
mother is from New England.
His parents moved the family to the Napa Valley when he
was a young boy. He grew up
on a ranch near Lake
Hennessey.
Ashforth is a graduate of St.
Helena High School and
attended Up Valley schools as
a child.
He also attended Cornish
College of the Arts. His primary post-graduate work was at
the
prestigious
London
Academy of Music and
Dramatic Art, where he
received a MA in Classical
Theater.
Ashforth founded The
Living Shakespeare Company
in New York City. He worked
also as an actor in Hollywood
and appeared in major films.
Ashforth then made a
career change and began
working for UBS Investment
Bank and Morgan Stanley.
Later, wanting to return
home to the Napa Valley, he
formed a partnership with
Francis
Ford
Coppola.
Togehter they created the
Bacchus Theatre Group. The
group was focused on producing
classical
plays
for
Coppola’s wineries.
They produced William
Shakespeare's timeless drama,
Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, both
of which Ashforth directed.
Ashforth is married. He
and his wife Margaret have
two boys, Finley, 14, and
Truman, 9.
The theater’s Board of
Directors is composed of
Dunbar, Secretary Bob Hurley,
Treasurer Timothy Laczynski,
Members at Large Maria
Shustorovich, John Evans,
Barry Pincus and Charles
Letourneau and Honorary
member Margrit Mondavi.
Pawlcyn Is Beard Finalist
for Outstanding Restaurateur
In a community where culinary skills are both a major
economic generator and a way
of life, the announcement of
the James Beard Foundation
bsundial
High Low
Wednesday 2/11 74
39
Thursday
77
42
Friday
80
43
Saturday
81
44
Sunday
80
42
Monday
78
44
Tuesday
60
50
Precipitation = .02
Season Total = 24.57
Last Year to Date = 7.99
award semifinalists are tantamount to the announcement of
Oscar nominess in Hollywood.
Napa County wasn’t forgotten in the semifinalist list
released yesterday, but there
have been years when it has
fielded more contenders.
A local favorite will no
doubt be Cindy Pawlson,
nominated for outstanding
restaurateur for Mustards
Grill,
just
outside
of
Yountville, and Cindy’s Back
Street Kitchen in St. Helena.
Candidates must have at least
10 years in the restaurant business and must not have won a
James Beard Foundation chef
award in the past five years.
Pawlson was nominated
within a field of more than 20
others.
Thomas Keller’s Per Se in
New York was nomined for
outstanding restaurant.
(Continued on Page 4.)
February 19, 2015
4 Generations, 5 Women Make
Kid 2 Kid Mission to Philippines
By Laura Madonna
Zoe Degala Harris and her husband David
Harris, have made their home in Yountville
since the late 1990s. This is where their two
daughters, Emma, 16, and Maya Lane, 13,
were born and have been rasied.
Volunteering as a Commissioner for
Parks
and
Recreation
Yountville’s
Commission or at Yountville Elementary
School while Emma and Maya Lane were students there and now home schooling due to a
busy schedule, including daily transports to
San Francisco for the girls to pursue professional ballet, Degala Harris simply calls herself “Mom.”
first grade class could be 50 students or 600!
Last December Degala Harris returned to
the Philippines, bringing her two daughters,
her mother, Aurelia Degala, 74, and grandmother Lorenza DeLuna, 89, who traveled
first from Michigan to Yountville.
Upon arrival, Emma and Maya Lane
placed the hands of their grandmother and
great grandmother on their foreheads in a traditional Filipino blessing called “mano.”
A reunion –- extended family with 30 great
Emma Harris carries an armload of books
into a schoolroom in the Phillipines last
December.
Four generations of the DeLuna/Degala family pose for a portrait in Quezon, Philippines.
They are, from left, Emma Harris, Zoe Degala
Harris, Lorenza DeLuna, Aurelia Degala and
Maya Lane Harris.
But children and teachers in and around
her hometown south of Manila in the
Philippines might call her “friend.”
For the past nine years, Degala Harris has
spearheaded efforts to send gently-used
books to the public school district and library
in and around Candelaria, Quezon, where
she was raised.
“Many children in the Philippines have
never owned a book of their own,” Degala
Harris said. “They have text books, as I did
when growing up there. But to hold a hard
cover book, for example, in their hands is a
world away from the paper thin, comic book
style booklets they are used to. The colors, the
feel -- our books draw the kids in and encourage them to enjoy the pleasures of reading.”
Nine years ago while spring cleaning,
Degala Harris realized her daughters’ shelves
were overflowing with books, and she went
to the library to donate them. But the library
had too many children’s books too.
That’s when she conceived the idea to send
them back home and started Kid 2 Kid: Pass
It On. Now she ships around six large boxes a
year, with her extended family back home
helping with logistics once the boxes arrive.
Degala Harris visited back home initially
with one of the first shipments of books to
choose the schools and get books distributed
to remote areas in the mountains.
“My aunt’s house is small, so we have to
store the boxes at different homes,” she
explained. “Then we sort the books and load
up the ‘jeepney’ and set out.”
Public school classes run from 7:30 a.m. to
4 p.m., with an hour lunch. Uniforms are
worn by teacher and student at preschool,
elementary and high school. There is no 12th
grade. There are no limits on class size, and a
grandchildren –- and an opportunity for Emma
and Maya Lane to connect with a culture they
had only heard about was the trip of a lifetime.
“I read in English to Emma and Maya Lane
when I was pregnant with them, but always
speak to them in Tagalog, so they are fluent in
the language,” Degala Harris said with obvious satisfaction.
When not delivering books or visiting
schools, the group indulged in the area’s rich
cultural heritage – Midnight Mass, which is
actually a festive 4 a.m. Catholic mass that
includes placing bells on a rotating Christmas
tree near the altar; strawberry picking, horseback riding near the famed Banaue rice terraces
as well as a visit to a coconut factory where
Aunt Juliet DeLuna manages food safety.
Emma and Maya Lane said they learned
many lessons on this remarkable trip.
“Never take anything for granted and
appreciate everything in life,” said Emma,
while Maya Lane thought it was “awesome to
travel with my family and meet new family
and taste different food.”
Degala Harris told the students, “If you are
done with a book, pass it on, share it.”
Her goal is to collect and distribute at least
1,000 books. Some of the kids’ favorite books
include Harry Potter, the Hunger Games and
Dork Diaries. Libraries in this region rarely have tables,
just simple single desk seats, and shelves are
flimsy and bare. In addition to books, Degala
Harris is looking to provide tables and book
shelves.
If you are interested in providing books,
clothes or shipping resources contact
[email protected]