A sold-out Evening in the Ruins draws 300 guests
Fundraiser benefits Community and Parks Foundation
With cheers, food, wine and music, more than 300 supporters from throughout the region gathered Saturday at the industrial ruins in Watson Ranch to raise money for the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation.
The nonprofit organization’s biggest project is the development of the future Napa River Ecological Center along the wetlands along the Napa River.
“We’re finally on the map,” said longtime American Canyon resident Beth Marcus, referring to her hometown, as politicians, developers, environmental activists and other community members from American Canyon, Napa and beyond, milled about the ruins of what was once the Standard Portland Cement Co. plant. The ruins are now known as Napa Valley Ruins and Gardens.
“An Evening At The Ruins,” which included a sit-down dinner and a live auction among the ruins spray painted by generations of graffiti artists, was the ninth annual fundraiser for the nonprofit organization formed in 2015. Saturday’s event was sold out.
Exactly how much “An Evening At The Ruins” has raised this year has yet to be determined. An online auction remains open until Friday. In 2024, the event raised $420,000. This year’s event may raise $350,000, said Janelle Sellick, executive director of the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation.
Singers from American Canyon High School sang “Public Display of Acappella,” as the 320 guests who paid $250 to take part in the event took their assigned seats.
High school teenagers volunteered at the event, highlighting the foundation’s efforts to develop youth programs.
Charlie Plummer, president of the American Canyon Community and Parks Foundation, said the organization is dedicated to creating an environmental program for the North Bay.
“Tonight, I really encourage you to donate big, donate often, but donate with your hearts,” Plummer said.
Sellick announced the launch of “Buy A Tile” – a $ 1 million community campaign to raise money the Napa River Ecology Center.
“When I think about the Napa River, I think about connection. The river winds through our valley. It touches every community, all five cities. It touches every family. It touches every vineyard,” Sellick said.
So far, $5.5 million has been raised to build the $9 million ecological center at the American Canyon’s former corporation yard on Wetlands Edge, Sellick said after the event. The construction plans could go out to bid in October, Sellick said.
U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, on Saturday announced that he included $2 million for the center in the appropriation bill for the coming fiscal year. That bill is pending.
The congressman had secured $2.5 million in last year’s appropriation bill. However, the bill was never passed and signed into law, according to Thompson’s office. The Republicans refused to bring that funding bill to a vote, a representative for Thompson’s office said Wednesday.
Thompson so far has secured $800,000 for the project in 2024, according to his office.
The foundation’s program includes the Teen WILD program, where teenagers painted an owl this summer. The painting was auctioned off Saturday.
Other lots from the live auction included four nights in Kyoto, Japan, dinner at Cole’s Chop House in Napa and a painting by Swiss-born Sébastien Pridmore, who is an American Canyon resident.
Sponsors of “An Evening At The Ruins” included Napa Valley Vintners, Recology, Valley Wine Warehouse, Redwood Credit Union, Napa Valley Casino, Kaiser Permanente, the Sierra Club and ICC Stravinski, a warehouse developer. Wineries donated wine.
Watson Ranch, a 300-acre planned development the city approved in 2018, includes 1,200 housing units. So far, 240 new houses and 186 apartments at Lemos complex have been built.
