A weekend on the river

It may not be as wide and imposing as the Mississippi River, but a sunny spring afternoon watching the lazy Petaluma River drift on by just might conjure up images of Mark Twain’s river-loving character, Tom Sawyer.

In conjunction with the Big Read Sonoma County’s celebration of Twain’s novel, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” the Petaluma River Heritage Center is recreating an old-fashioned river camp for Tom Sawyer Days, on April 10-11.

The Big Read Sonoma County, led by KRCB Public Broadcasting, is a countywide reading program that has been selected to receive funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. The Sonoma County program joins more than 260 communities across the United States participating in The Big Read, a national initiative designed to restore reading to the center of American culture.

Parks and various groups around Sonoma County are participating in the initiative by hosting Mark Twain/Tom Sawyer-themed events. Cinnabar Theater, for example, is participating in the program by organizing a production of Mark Twain’s comedy, “Is He Dead?”

“We’ve decided to cooperate with the initiative by bringing people out to the Petaluma River Heritage Center for two days of events,” said Elizabeth Howland, board member of Friends of the Petaluma River. “We wanted to recreate ‘The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,’ and have a variety of activities planned for families to experience what life was like for the characters of Mark Twain’s book.”

The Petaluma River Heritage Center, located in the historic livery stable in Steamer Landing Park at D and Copeland streets, is a work in progress. The Friends of the Petaluma River plan for the center to become a place where people can learn about the river, connect with it for recreation and enjoy various educational programs and exhibits.

Big Read Sonoma County’s focus on Tom Sawyer seemed the perfect opportunity to support the reading program and promote the heritage center.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, but the center has come a long way,” said Howland. “The place is completely cleaned out and it has a new floor. A lot of volunteer work has gone into it. The city is currently working on giving approval to our application for a grant to help finish restoration of the livery stable and other amenities. Our focus now is to get people to see what a treasure we have in the Petaluma River and get people out here to the center.”

On Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m., the heritage center will become a Tom Sawyer-style river camp, complete with a pirate’s lair, cave reminiscent of the one in Twain’s book, raft building, entertainment and even costume rooms for children to play dress-up. A tully-reed boat, created at last year’s River Heritage Festival, will also be on display.

A Mark Twain impersonator will also be on hand, along with the Sonoma County Book mobile.

“We’re going to have free bindle sticks filled with refreshments for the kids,” said Howland. “We’re also having musicians playing traditional music in the Livery Stable.”

Sunday’s events are from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and begin with a pancake breakfast to benefit Friends of the Petaluma River. The breakfast is from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and costs $8.

The day continues with the Traditional Small Craft Association sailing up the river in wooden boats for a visit from 10 a.m. to noon.

Residents are encouraged to join in the Sunday fun by coming by rowboat, kayak or canoe.

“River tripping is encouraged,” said Howland. “Parking is going to be difficult, so we’re encouraging people to paddle in, walk or come by bike.”

To learn more about The Big Read Sonoma County, visit www.bigreadsonoma.com. For information on the Petaluma River Heritage Center, visit www.friendsofthep etalumariver.org.

(Contact Yovanna Bieberich at yovanna.bieberich@arguscourier. com)