Contented Lew Baer enjoys life's goodness in Petaluma

The San Francisco native has raised goats, rented houses and collected postcards in town since 1973.|

It would be very easy, at the top of this story, to just say that once Lew Baer and his wife Janet moved to the Petaluma area in 1973 that they, in agreement with Luther Burbank, had found the chosen spot to settle down and enjoy the rural. But that statement is not necessarily true. Having lived in San Francisco, Fresno, Los Angeles, and Mill Valley, the North Bay certainly had much to offer, but for Lew and Janet, it was all about sharing life together, regardless of the location.

“We’ve been happy everywhere we’ve lived,” said Baer, an easy-going, sharp-witted 75-year-old native San Franciscan, who enjoys a wide range of social activities that keep he and his wife of 54 years actively engaged in the local bounty of arts, food, history, night-life and much more.

Descended from a family rooted in San Francisco since the 1860s, Lew’s father operated Baer Notion & Toy on Mission St. and his mother’s family ran a produce business. A graduate of Lowell High School and University of California at Berkeley, with a degree in Agricultural Economics, Lew planned on a career in the produce industry, which he pursued in the farming community of Fresno and in Los Angeles before returning to a $115-a-month flat on Fillmore St. in San Francisco.

He and Janet - who’ve known each other their entire lives through their mothers, who had been college roommates - were married in 1961. They moved to Mill Valley and Lew continued to sell produce. While attending a friend’s wedding, they listened to a discussion about raising dairy goats in Sonoma County, an idea that resonated with the Baers, and in 1973 they moved to Cotati where they began raising dairy goats and pigs. The goats became 4-H projects for their daughter, Tatiana, to show at local Fairs. And the pigs, raised on ample amounts of goat milk, “produced some of the best pork you’ve ever eaten,” according to Baer.

The three Baers moved to a hillside parcel in rural Penngrove in 1977.

After retiring from the produce business, Baer worked at Petaluma’s Forman Hardware & Supply Co. until its closing. He then began buying and renovating classic fixer-uppers, particularly multi-unit historical structures, and went into real estate rentals. A veritable handyman, Lew did all the repairs and upgrades himself on his Petaluma rental that appears on an 1874 map, and on the former Central Bank in Penngrove, which he owns.

“We rent nice places to nice people,” said Baer.

His interest in local history led to a charter membership in the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum in 1978 and appointment to its board, where he’s a past president of the Petaluma Museum Association. An accomplished writer, he diligently edited the museum’s newsletter for six years, reminding its members of current exhibits, presentations and concerts. Those early newsletters are remembered for printing a series of excerpts from Adair Heig’s popular book, “History of Petaluma: A California River Town” and including a monthly poem reflecting on Petaluma’s past written by multi-faceted poet-historian, artist, collector and photographer, Janet Baer.

Among her poems was “The Bandito of Washoe House.”

“Everything she does is artistry,” Baer says proudly of his wife.

For nearly 40 years the Baer’s have been crossing the country and traveling around the world in support of their hobby of collecting postcards. Post cards come in every conceivable category, too numerous to mention. There’s even an Elvis card with a recipe for his favorite snack, a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Lew’s collection includes about 30 various categories and countless themes, but his favorites are of early-day, 1890-1920, San Francisco Restaurants and Hotels, 1910-ish Penngrove, and Sonoma County.

His most unusual cards are the hundreds of handmade goat-themed postcards made for him by his wife.

Lew has written articles for postcard publications for 33 years, and at one time published his own magazine. He’s currently the editor of the San Francisco Bay Area Post Card Club’s newsletter, which for some is the club’s highlight. One club member wrote, “I don’t have much interest in postcards, but I always enjoy your newsletter,” and another commented, “The newsletter is worth the cost of membership.”

Reading and dining are among the Baer’s favorite pastimes. A foodie who loves to read about the pleasures of the table, Lew devours cookbook and magazine stories that stir the appetite, while Janet prefers a good mystery. Having dined in restaurants far and wide, Lew favors Benji’s French Basque Restaurant in Bakersfield as the world’s best.

Another family favorite is the annual Glendi International Food Festival hosted by the Saint Seraphin Orthodox Church of Santa Rosa. The celebration features a savory menu of authentic foods that represent an ethnic diversity, along with local beverages and Balkin music. Attending performances at Cinnabar Theater and listening to Bluegrass music at Willowbrook Alehouse add to their heaping plateful of activities.

“We enjoy a very comfortable life and we do the things that make us happy. We have a lot of fun,” says Lew Baer, of their bountiful routine.

(Harlan Osborne’s column ‘Toolin’ Around Town’ appears every two weeks. Contact him at harlan@sonic.net)

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