The Buzz: Gina Benedetti joins national cancer campaign, ‘Pi(e)ku’ contest returns, and more

News and notes from around Petaluma|

Petaluma cancer survivor Gina Benedetti to appear in national Colon Cancer Awareness campaign: March is national Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and Petaluma’s Gina Benedetti, herself a survivor of colon cancer, will participate in a national campaign to raise awareness of the disease, currently the number two cancer killer in America. In the ‘Fight With Courage’ campaign, which kicked off on Feb. 28, Benedetti is one of 25 cancer survivors participating.

“Each year we choose a group of ambassadors to be the ‘faces’ of this disease,” said Anjee Davis, president of Fight Colorectal Cancer, in a press release. “This year’s group showed tremendous strength and positivity in light of everything they’ve gone through and we wanted to channel that to rally the other advocates around the country to follow their example and fight with courage.”

Mathematical ‘Pi(e)ku contest’ returns to Petaluma Pie Company: It’s back - Petaluma Pie Company’s annual celebration of ‘Pi Day’ on March 14 (or 3.14, which is, of course, the first part of the mathematical expression known as Pi). In short, Pi represents the infinite and irrational mathematical constant and ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. Pi Day - officially acknowledged as such by the United States House of Representatives in 2009 - will be marked in Petaluma with the downtown pie company’s annual Pi(e)ku poetry writing competition. Poems in the haiku format (five syllables, seven syllables, five syllables) on the subject of either Pi or pie or both will be judged for creativity and humor. Poems can be entered at PetalumaPie.com, with a deadline of March 13, at the end of the day. Winners will be announced on Pi Day, on which the company will also be delivering pre-ordered Pi pies, with the mathematical symbol for Pi on every pie. Pre-orders for Pi pies are being taken now.

Day-long Watershed Conference coming to Petaluma April 6: With the eye-opening theme ‘Extreme Future: Fire, Floods, a Rising Bay,’ the North Bay Watershed Association will be sponsoring a major conference at the Sheraton hotel next month, bringing together public officials, environmental leaders, scientists and other experts to discuss local water management in the short-range and long-term future. Presenters and panelists will include Congressmen Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson, Allison Brooks (Chair of Resilient by Design Executive Board), Sam Schuchat (Executive Officer of the California Coastal Conservancy), Lieutenant Colonel Travis J. Rayfield (Army Corps of Engineers), Dr. Lisa Micheli (President and CEO of Pepperwodd Preserve), and Grant Davis (General Manager of the Sonoma County Water Agency). The conference begins with registration at 8 a.m., and concludes with a wine reception and networking session at 4 p.m. Cost is $125 per person general, $30 for students. For details, to reserve a space visit nbwatershed.org/conferences.

(Got a BUZZ item to suggest? Write to David Templeton at david.templeton@arguscourier.com)

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