Meet your Maker food event in Petaluma

The ominously sounding “Meet Your Maker” takes on a completely different meaning Sunday, Sept. 27 at McNear’s Mystic Theater from 4 to 7 p.m. Presented by the Petaluma Craft Guild, the event offers a personal visit with the makers of Petaluma’s beers, wines, spirits and cuisine, and all for a great cause, the Petaluma Animal Services Foundation (PASF), which helps fund Petaluma’s “no kill” animal shelter.

Founded in 2013, the Petaluma Craft Guild helps promote Petaluma’s resurgence into the beer, wine and spirits world by concentrating on sustainability and giving back to the community. The Guild’s current members include Sonoma Coast Spirits, Petaluma Hills Brewing Company, HenHouse Brewing, 101 North Brewing Company, Cruse Wine Company, Dempsey’s Restaurant & Brewery, Griffo Distillery, Stillwater Distillery and Sonoma Portworks.

The Guild offers members a focused avenue for participating in the community. Guild members were inundated with donation requests and found that at year’s end they had often donated away all their profits. By running their own fundraiser, members can give back without donating themselves out of business.

“All the proceeds from our fundraisers go directly to the non-profits we’ve chosen,” says Marilyn Rubattino, of 101 North Brewing and founder of the Guild. “So many of our members have adopted pets that a Petaluma Animal Shelter fundraiser made perfect sense.”

The Guild also participate in the Sharing is Caring food drive for COTS and Rivertown Revival for Friends of the River. Rubatinno says that, as the Guild and the member businesses grow, they will look to do more fundraising events, because the list of good causes in Petaluma is endless.

Meet Your Maker is more than just a party where revelers can enjoy drink specials, food pairings and music. Once inside, attendees can hang out and get to know Petaluma’s favorite bartenders, chefs, brewers and distillers rather than simply consuming pints and plates. Guest will mingle with the area’s most innovative food and drink purveyors, who will share their knowledge, experience and vision, while mixing up specialty cocktails using craft beer reductions, house-made shrubs (vinegared syrup mixed with spirits) and other locally-sourced ingredients.

Chef Joe O’Donnell of Seared will also be present to offer an explosion of flavor pairing experiences. Guests will learn which foods and drinks pair well and which do not, to broaden and diversify their dining experiences. Visitors are not so much buying a ticket to an event as they are simply paying their share of the ingredients.

McNear’s Mystic Theater is a perfect venue because McNear’s was local and homegrown before that was a cool thing. Co-owner Ken O’Donnell grew up in Petaluma and knows that to succeed in this town you have to listen to Petalumans.

McNear’s is known as a place for great beer, and has had the local brews on tap since day one. In fact, McNear’s even uses Petaluma Hill’s Porterluma to braise their succulent beef brisket and 101 North’s Golden Naked Ale in the batter for their delicious Fish and Chips.

McNear’s and Mystic Theater will also have Petaluma Stillwater Gin and Vodka Martini specials the entire day of Meet Your Maker.

If all that, and many free giveaways is not enough, the animal shelter’s Cuddle Shuttle with be parked out front all afternoon, featuring the latest adorable adoptable pets. This is such an important time to donate to the shelter as their work has been instrumental in rescuing and carrying for the displaced animals of the Valley Fire. The shelter, and its donors’ generosity knows no boundaries, so their fundraisers are more important than ever.

Tickets are only $25 and are currently available at Petaluma Hills Brewing Company, McNear’s Saloon, the Mystic Theatre Box Office and on through the Petaluma Craft Guild’s Facebook page.

Those looking to donate immediately to the PASF can do so directly through their website at petaluma animalshelter.org.