Rick Goodman worked for me at one time at a nightclub I owned in Santa Rosa called Magnolia’s. Even though it is long gone after a 20 year run, many of the great relationships developed there are still intact. One of those friendships is the one shared by me, my wife Michele, Rick and his wife Kim.
Rick has felt a desire to be part of our community event and he has brought the resources of Goodman Construction and Electrical, Inc., to plug the leaks in our production.
When we lost our borrowed RV(the owner finally sold it) we lost our annual office. However, Rick came in and replaced it with his. When we finally had gotten big enough, and had so many vendors, that we could not sufficiently supply everyone with the power needed, Rick brought in his solar panel trailer to save the day.
However, the biggest impact of Rick’s involvement with the festival is the donation of his expertise as a licensed electrician. He ends up continually trouble shooting the blown breakers, the webs of extension cords, and the distribution of power, all while he calms the panicking food vendors.
If all this is not enough, Rick cooks the chicken on the smoker trailer for the hospitality tent where his wife Kim helps through the weekend. Plus, he tows the smoker home at the end and cleans it. I am not making this up. It is an over the top contribution.
Our event is one of community, love and generosity and Rick and Kim are great examples of that.
Our next sponsor of the month is Morris Distributing. When we lost our beer sponsor that we had for decades due to Covid and policy changes, I turned to Ronnie Morris.
Ronnie had been a driver for Mesa when he started his distribution business with the fronting of a fleet of trucks by an old mutual friend of ours. He quickly turned it into a major beer distribution company based in my hometown of Petaluma. When I found that we had to find a new beer sponsor I went to my old Petaluma friend and asked him if he would be part of our historic annual nonprofit event. Ronnie didn’t even blink as he immediately provided us with all the beer we needed and a truck from which to pour it.
Ronnie, and his son Jason, are examples of two more businessmen who see the value in becoming involved in annual community events and the community connections that come out of the bond.
We owe Morris Distributing a huge debt of gratitude and we wish them even more success on into the future.
