Members receive visit from food star Clark Wolf
Wine library members experienced a different type of board meeting this year when local food expert Clark Wolf agreed to speak to the group after their official minutes of business last Friday.
The evening, hosted by SHED, was filled with food and wine and discussions about the plentiful presence of both that draws such an interest to Sonoma County. Wolf spoke about the changes in the food and wine industry over the years and his ideas on where the county is headed in the future. Although the nature of the talk was serious, Wolf’s execution was playful and humorous and set the tone for a exciting evening of tasting and talking.
“The power of what happens with food, as you know, is astounding,” said Wolf.
“What’s going on that’s important here, what’s going on in Sonoma County? The last ten years have been very important…and you people that support a library…you are supporting a legacy, you are supporting history and you are supporting the now and supporting the future,” he said.
The talk touched on topics such as the importance of land preservation, respecting our local food sources and being smart about the way we handle the evolution and growth in popularity of the region. Wolf’s mention of “crafting the future” sparked further discussion among members at the reception.
“It was really fun, it seemed like people had different takes on what Clark said … we ended up having a lot more discussions about how when you aspire to greatness, like I feel Sonoma County is doing, everybody wants to go there,” Haupt said.
Haupt arranged the special evening for members as a way to look outside of their wine group and start the discussion about expanding the library’s role in the community.
“The Wine Library has been around for 25 years and in some circles it seems to be an important cultural institution and to others they don’t know it exists and I feel like we are at a point with the library where we are rethinking why we are here and what it is this library is for and I think it is a good time for community thought on what we need,” Haupt said.
Recent ideas on the direction of the library have been brought to the attention of staff, including expanding to include culinary and other local crops, the question of focusing less on industry and more on history and heritage, and is the library in the right place.
“I am trying to open that discussion to a wider audience because I feel like the community as a whole, citywide and countywide, should have a say in the direction,” said Haupt.
The library is working on increasing its online presence to appeal to a larger group worldwide, and inviting the community to check out what they have in-house.
“We are open to the public’s ideas on what they would like and want to continue the discussion about what is going on with the wine library moving forward,” Haupt said.
For more information visit the Sonoma County Library Healdsburg Branch or email wi*********@so****.us.
