Chris Smith: Celebrate with the 'Pasta King' for a good cause

ART IBLETO WINCES at the thought of anyone paying to attend his 90th birthday dinner on Oct. 9 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.

But the Pasta King so loved the late Saralee Kunde that he was persuaded to allow the sale of modestly priced tickets to the celebration, with proceeds going to the fairgrounds' new Saralee and Rich's Barn.

Presale tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for kids 7 to 12 and they're at eventbrite.com.

For the meal, Art is making his polenta and pastas, and brother Angelo Ibleto of Angelo's Meats will prepare his renowned boneless, stuffed pig.

Taiko drummers and the band Court 'n' Disaster will perform. We'll sing “Happy Birthday” to the man who introduced us to pesto and fed us for free time after time at benefits for people in crisis across town or around the world.

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A most unusual piece of theater opens Oct. 7 at SRJC.

When the cast first met, the script of “Leaving Home” didn't exist. The story, or more correctly, the stories, evolved from interviews theater students conducted with other JC students and alumni.

The key question: What does leaving home mean to you?

The inspiration to ask came from a 2013 report that found about 800 Santa Rosa Junior College students were homeless.

Interviewers involved with the new theater production spoke with individuals who'd left home for the streets, for military service abroad, for couches, for journeys, for families of their own, for domestic situations vastly different than the ones in which they'd grow up, for you name it.

Cast members wove into the script of the college's first home-grown play the tales they heard, and bits of their own experiences with leaving home.

“I am truly in awe of these students,” said director Laura Downing-Lee. “This is hard stuff to do and they're doing it.”

It was just the other night that the students completed the script, and opening night isn't much more than a week away.

Said Downing-Lee, “Needless to say there are going to be a lot of long nights.”

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SOME DANCE, SOME EAT: A swing dance in the heart of Santa Rosa on Saturday night should be a kick in the pants.

Members of the New Horizons community band will cut loose starting at 6 p.m. at the Glaser Center, located within the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship on Mendocino Avenue.

Dollars raised will support the free breakfast the fellowship serves each Saturday morning. Grateful for the meal, which costs about $26,000 a year, are people of all ages who struggle.

Tickets are $15 and are at brownpapertickets.com/event/2603388 and at the door.

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LOSE A RING in the sand at Doran Regional Park?

Jessica Baldwin did some metal detecting during a visit to the Bodega Bay beach with her kids on Sunday and found a 14-karat man's band.

Inside is inscribed a date that includes the year 2004 and a reference to a type of sea life.

If that sounds like your ring, give me a call or email and I'll get you in touch with Jessica.

The weekend metal scanner says she never found a ring before, and when she walks the beach with her detector she really doesn't expect to find treasure.

“My goal,” she said, “is to find $2 so my kids can go to Screamin' Mimi's.”

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