Published September 29, 2005

Hot Bluegrass Concert Benefit for Presentation Hall Musicians featuring the Dry Branch Fire Squad in Kenwood at the Kenwood Depot, 314 Warm Springs Road, 3 p.m. Sunday, October 2. The Albany next to Berkeley-based acoustic band includes Ron Thomason on mandolin and vocal chords, Brian Aldridge on guitar, Tom Boyd on banjo, and Dan Russell on bass. Highly praised nationally for bluegrass and gospel, with big dashes of Thomason’s wit thrown in. Organized in two weeks by Beth Coffelt, who should be on the stage herself! Tickets $20 include refreshments such as wine, hush puppies, and BBQ by Ian Coffelt. Call (707) 833-5990 or visit www.drybranchfiresquad.com.

Artisan Wine & Cheese Pairing Class at Bartholomew Park Winery, Saturday, October 1. KSVY radio host Sheana Davis and her Epicurean Connection will guide a tasting of previously “unreleased” cheeses from Laura Chenel and Vella Cheese, along with Bellwether Farms Sheep Milk Ricotta and fine Bartholomew Park wines. “Bart Park” is where Hungarian Agoston Haraszthy planted the first vinifera grapevines in the United States almost 150 years ago. Cost: $35 or $25 for Bart Park’s Four Seasons Wine Club members. For more info call (707) 939-3026 or visit www.bartpark.com.

Big Hurricane Relief Concert: B.R. Cohn Charity Fall Music Festival and Golf Classic featuring The Doobie Brothers, Little Feat, the Turtles, Lisa Loeb, Joe Satriani, Loggins and Messina, and Creedance Clearwater Revisited at the winery’s amphitheater, first built for local theater groups. Golf tournament Friday at Chardonnay Golf Course in Napa. Call immediately for added October 2 concert. Tickets: $75, with proceeds benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina. Call (707) 938-4064, ext. 24.

Johnny & Betty’s Appliances and Classic Ranges is like a museum for food and kitchens-as-culture fans. Check out the 1950s Okeefe & Merritt, Wedgwood, Buck’s, Gaffers & Sattler, Roper, Magic Chef, and Quick Meal stoves, as well as vintage refrigerators. This family has been restoring 1900-1960s ranges for forty years, just two blocks north of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn. 17549 Sonoma Highway, Boyes Hot Springs. (707) 996-9730. Open Wednesday-Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. www.classicranges.com

Depot Park Museum, the 1890 location of the actual depot where the Northwestern Pacific Railway stopped until the City of Sonoma acquired the property. In 1976 the Depot burned while the Sonoma Valley Historical Society was restoring it. Opened in 1979, fully rebuilt to its original plan, the Depot is now a history museum managed by the Historical Society and full of Sonoma memorabilia and a few railroad cars. In Depot Park at 270 First Street West, Sonoma, across from the Depot Hotel Restaurant. (707) 938-1762. Open 1:00-4:30 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.