Sonoma County philanthropist’s flat tire leads to happy reunion with ex-resident of Tamayo Village

Kay Marquet no longer runs Chop’s Teen Club or Community Foundation Sonoma County, but she’s still out doing for others.

Once a month, she bakes a serious birthday cake and takes it to Tamayo Village, the Social Advocates for Youth residence for young people, some once homeless, who struggle to get on their feet.

Days ago, Marquet was driving and, blub-blub-blub, a tire went flat. Three trying hours later at a tire shop, having waited for a tow truck, she watched a swap to a temporary tire and heard the sad news that she needed to buy a new one.

The polite Les Schwab technician who installed the tire looked familiar to her. It came to her why. She asked, “Do I know you from Cake Night?”

“He said ‘Yes!’ with a big smile on his face ... he looked happier than I had ever seen him at Cake Night.”

How it inflated Marquet to learn the ex-Tamayo Village resident has an apartment and loves his job. She thought, how lucky that she lost that tire.

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IN ONE G&G MEMORY I’m stacking a shopping cart with the upscale ice-cream bars I plan to hawk at a benefit dinner to make a few dollars more for services to local seniors.

Teejay Lowe, the G&G Supermarket chief and son of co-founder Robert Gong, happens by and eyes what appears to be evidence of my Häagen-Dazs and Dove bar addiction. I tell him what I’ll do with the bars. He tells me he’ll pay for them.

Has Teejay ever denied a request for edible donations to a community benefit?

I suspect there are legions of us who’ve relished the Christmas Eve (or New Year’s Eve) ritual of taking our place in the crowd that awaits a chance to buy local crab at the G&G price.

Though a neurotoxin played Grinch with holiday crab last year, Teejay plans to pitch in to serve those who think Dungeness at Thanksgiving.

He says of the sale to Safeway of his family’s 53-year-old business, “Overall, this is the right thing, for a lot of reasons.”

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CERES IS NO. 1 to all the local people whose fight against cancer or other ominous diseases is bolstered by the healthful meals they receive from the Sebastopol-based nonprofit.

Ceres was thrilled to learn earlier this year that CNN chose its founder, Cathryn Couch, as one of its 2016 CNN Heroes. The public now has voted for the Top 10, one of whom will be named CNN Hero of the Year on Dec. 11.

Couch didn’t make the Top 10. But the attention by CNN has shone much exposure on the Ceres mission that’s being replicated across the country.

Couch brims with gratitude.

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BUY-BUY CANDY: This makes 32 Halloweens that Santa Rosa dentist Steve Berger will create a teaching moment by purchasing trick-or-treat sweets at the Hoen Avenue practice he now runs with his daughter, Shana Van Cleave.

Kids keen to sell some or all of their candy for a buck a pound can lug it to the Children’s Dental Health Center between 2 and 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

You may recall that following last year’s buy-back, somebody dove into the dumpster and carted off about 760 pounds of mini-Snickers and such.

Shana mused that if, on Tuesday, folks pull up with about that much aged candy and announce they’ve come for their dollar a pound, “we reserve the right to turn them away.”

Chris Smith is at 707-521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.