Chris Smith: A little something for Lindsay Bribiescas

A frequent customer of Graton's Underwood Bar & Bistro perceived that bartender Gaelan Osbun was not his old self.

What's up? Osbun shared that Dan Bribiescas, the great ex-Santa Rosa High soccer coach who died suddenly Sept. 28 at just 56, was his uncle.

The bartender revealed that beyond being heartsick, he's worried that the financial fallout from his uncle's death might make it tough for Dan's daughter, Lindsay, a freshman at UCLA, to stay in school. The customer consoled him and mentioned that both he and his date went to UCLA.

When the couple departed Underwood, they left behind a nice tip for Osbun. And a $600 check for Lindsay.

Her uncle, John Bribiescas, and others who loved her dad have since created for Lindsay the Dan Bribiescas Memorial Fund at the Montgomery Village branch of Exchange Bank.

LOVE-IN FOR UMPQUA: As Santa Rosa Junior College grasps for meaningful responses to the killings at Oregon's Umpqua Community College by a shooter who taunted victims about their religion, instructor Sarah Whylly and some religion-class students prepare for a Thursday morning love-in.

Whylly emailed colleagues, 'We have collectively, as a class, agreed that we both need and want to be there for each other with regard to this issue.

'If anyone would like to join us, we will be eating breakfast together and discussing the Umpqua tragedy, their fears and joys about being students right now, suggestions for safety, as well as the challenges and positive things associated with learning about religion in contemporary America.'

It starts at 10:30 a.m. on the library green. Potluck food is encouraged.

MUSIC TO ASH: Saro Deacon isn't much into material things. But how she regrets the loss of one particular possession to the Valley fire that consumed her and husband Reikor Deacon's home in Cobb.

It was the Celtic harp her late grandfather gave her about 25 years ago. Saro loved to play it at home and at the occasional musical appearances she and Reikor would make at restaurants, wineries and galleries.

Suddenly she's in the market for a harp and wondering if one might sit unused somewhere. She can be reached by email at sarodeacon73@gmail.com.

A VISITOR APPEARED in teacher Nikki Winovich's sixth-grade class at Monroe Elementary in Santa Rosa.

She was Winnie Hogoboom, someone familiar because she volunteers in the school library. She whispered to Winovich why she'd stopped by, and the teacher urged her tell the class.

Hogoboom, a retired teacher and principal, told the students she popped in because she began her career as a sixth-grade teacher in that very classroom exactly 42 years ago.

The youngsters applauded as though she's someone historically important. Right they are.

Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CJSPD