In December, 1998, I wrote “The Flight of the Phoenix”, my
second column for the Argus Courier.
Like the many others who knew the secret of the Phoenix
Theater, I worried Petaluma was about to lose something unique and precious: a
popular teen center and all-ages music venue in a historic but funky old opera
house. But the community rallied to save her: in a scene reminiscent of “It’s a
Wonderful Life”, four local music-loving Telecom engineers contributed their
buyout bucks to pay off the escrow.
Much has happened in the half-dozen years that followed. The
old Hill Opera House building was retrofitted for earthquake safety, and the
Phoenix became a non-profit organization, bringing in a greater variety of
services for its teen visitors. The telecom engineer angels have now largely
moved on, but the need to pay the bills for maintenance, operation and
expansion of the Phoenix Center’s services remains.
I need to make full disclosure: Last summer I joined the Board
of Directors for the Petaluma Phoenix Center, Inc., because I believed in its
mission: to provide a safe and healthy place for teen programs and activities,
with an emphasis on music and art, and to preserve and enhance the theater for
youth and the community at large. My first task as a Board Member was to create
a website, which is now ready for you to see at www.petalumaphoenix.org ) And now I have to offer a full confession: since joining the
Board and immersing myself in the world of the Phoenix, I have fallen in love
with the place.
Where else but the Phoenix would you see these things:
Thursday afternoon free health clinics with teens lined up waiting for exams; you
kid’s garage band opening on the big stage for a hot act like the East Bay
“rocket-roll” Phenomenauts; a large crowd of high
school students lounging around the cavernous theater, unwinding following
final exams; a group reading of Ginsberg’s epic poem Howl; rainy day
skateboarding; bi-weekly Sunday afternoon jams led by Toast Machine’s Gio Benedetti; front lobby evening screenings of art films;
the high-grade hip-hop of Petaluma’s Furious Minds; free dental exams in a room
covered with spray-can art; a wild Halloween fund-raising party sponsored by
Petaluma realtors; the cello-rock ensemble Rasputina;
writing and poetry tutoring from professional authors; and a “Punk Slam” concert
with the Supreme Pro Wrestling ring set up in the middle of the dance floor.
What makes the Phoenix especially valuable to the community
(and, ahem, worthy of your contribution of time and/or money) is that we work
with other organizations to address larger issues facing local youth, like job
development, drug and alcohol issues, gangs and violence. The popularity of the
Phoenix makes it an ideal place to reach out to the people most in need of
these services. And its popularity is not *just* from the coolness of the
building or the variety of activities – it’s a result of the careful
cultivation of a sense of identification and ownership among the kids. Says Phoenix Theater founder and manager Tom Gaffey:
“The first performance in this building, on December 5, 1904, was of the play Everyman.
That set the tone, I think, for what would come. I love that the place is used
by so many kids. The Phoenix belongs to everyone.”
Cheryl Negrin-Rappaport, our
Health Clinic Director, puts it this way: “"People look at the Phoenix and
think it's just a bunch of lost kids… Kids making bad
decisions. I was pretty wild and came from a broken home. I've walked
the same paths. I know that when kids find a place where adults care for them,
accept them, they are likely to make wiser decisions. They see how to love
themselves because we love them. That's how I was saved.”
I’ll let you read on the website about all the great things
going on at the Phoenix, and what you can do to help, but I’d like to leave you
with the conclusion of a Press Democrat editorial about the teen clinic. Says
the PD: “(it) redefines what it means to be the community's theater."
Pull quote candidate: when kids find a place where
adults care for them, accept them, they are likely to make wiser decisions.