Calabash 2010

Artists can turn gourds into shrines, masks, vehicles, panoramas and musical instruments.  The people at Food For Thought, the AIDS food bank, can turn a garden into a place of hope, peace and connection.  When those two forces merge for Calabash, they can turn a day into magic.

When we stopped to get our tickets, I wasn’t on the list.  This worried me.  They asked if I paid by check.  I said yes I had and it had included a donation, so they directed me and my friend Kathleen to the Sponsor table.  Sure enough, there was my name and I got a tag that said “Sponsor.”  I said, “Does my friend get one too?”

“No,” said the man behind the table.  “She gets to bask in your reflected glory.”  He immediately turned to Kathleen.  “How’s that working out for you?”

Calabash is Food For Thought’s big fund-raiser.  Artists from all over Sonoma County and beyond create gourd art for the silent auction.  The event is held in Forestville, at Food For Thought.  The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are always on hand, in their face-paint and high heels—and some of these guys are six feet tall before they put on the heels—to help out.  They bring sparkle and humor to the event.

I once tried to describe the Sisters of Perpetual Ijndulgence to a new person at work. We didn’t know each other very well.  We had been discussing the fund-raising the Sisters do for various causes, and she had gone on their San Francisco website.  I don’t think she’d actually met any of them at that time.  I was saying, “Well, it’s hard to describe what they do, exactly.  It’s kind of, it’s—“ 

She interrupted, thinking I was embarrassed and wanting to put me at ease.  “They’re drag queens.” 

“That’s not it,” I said.  “I mean yes, of course they’re drag queens, but they’re also. . . well, performance artists, and so much more.” 

Volunteers for the event get to wear gourd hats.  We had garden elf volunteers who would answer questions about Food for Thoughts glorious garden, and volunteers who passed around trays of delicious food.  Tiny plastic cups of gazpacho—hands-down the best.  I had to restrain myself from trailing after the gazpacho ladies and snagging two of three more servings.  There were many sinfully sweet things, little cups of cheesecake-filling, chocolate things, a crumbly-topped thing with a date filling, and lots of cookies.  I congratulate myself for avoiding the cookies. 

Each stunning piece of gourd artwork was up for bid, or you could buy it directly for a slightly higher set price.  We also voted on which piece was our favorite.  The People’s Choice, Best of Show was called “The Moon is Gold,” a Canadian goose etched on a circular drum of a gourd.  My personal favorite was the chicken pulling the cart, but every one of them was beautiful, or fun, or strange and different. 

You could also take a tour of the food bank. Food for Thought offers more than food, although that is their primary focus.  They offer space for support groups to meet, deliver food to housebound members, provide nutritionist services and advocacy.  People come to work in the garden or help out, and sometimes that’s their first step out of their home, the beginning of a reconnection with the world after they’ve received a diagnosis of AIDS. 

Across the courtyard from the big garden is the herb garden. Currently, Food for Thought is selling bricks for the herb garden walkway as a fund-raiser.  The herb garden is much smaller, but exudes the aromas of various fragrant plants, and the same sense of tranquility the large garden has. 

At the end of February, 2011, Food for Thought will lose a major funding source because this area no longer qualifies for certain Ryan White Care Act funds.  The reason has nothing to do with the spread of HIV disease—or rather, everything to do with it, as the feds try to allocate money to the southern states, where the disease is growing, without increasing the funding overall.  Our area no longer meets a regulatory standard for funding.  I think this means we will see more Food for Thought fund-raising events in the future.