‘West County Buzz,’ April 2009

Writing Samples - Elisabeth Parker - Russian River Monthly - West County Buzz - April 2009.

“West County Buzz” Column for the Russian River Monthly

April 2009

Intro: “Tough times call for tough choices,” declared Sonoma County Controller Rod Dole as he announced a moratorium on property taxes … April Fool! (“West County Buzz” column)


“West County Buzz” was my monthly column for the now-defunct Russian River Monthly. This newspaper covered news, issues, politics, and events in towns along the Russian River in Western Sonoma County, California. “West County Buzz” took a more light-hearted approach with local color, humor, happenings, and insider gossip.

I led in with an April Fool prank for April 2009’s “West County Buzz” column and then reported on neighbors vying for highly-coveted census taker jobs amid farewell festivities for a longtime resident, a rain-soaked barbecue, and why we call the local booster station “Handy Andy’s.”

You can read the article below or click here for the PDF version.

Alas, I can’t link you to the original article because the Russian River Monthly was a casualty of the Great Recession.

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