Smith: What a bold thing these two mothers did in Austin

It’s a rare woman who’d fly to Texas to have her head shaved.

But two of our neighbors did that last weekend. Timaree Marston of Santa Rosa and Ukiah’s Maureen Phillips traveled to Austin as part of a sisterhood that no one joins willingly.

They are mothers of children besieged by cancer.

Timaree’s son, Caemon, was just 3 when he died of an extremely rare pediatric leukemia. Maureen’s son, Wyatt, was diagnosed with a second type of leukemia in 2013 and today is in his early 20s and in treatment.

The women trekked to Austin as part of the St. Baldrick’s Foundation’s 46 Mommas, named for the 46 North American women who are told each workday that one of their children has cancer. To boost awareness about childhood cancers and raise money for research and treatment, the women had their heads buzzed bald.

“It’s an interesting sensation,” Timaree, an SSU English instructor, said Monday at the Austin Airport, where it was muggy and about 100 degrees. “It certainly helps with staying cooler in this heat.”

She’ll wear a hat only when she needs to guard against sunburn. Otherwise, she’ll display her bare dome proudly.

“It’s a conversation starter,” Timaree said. As she honors Caemon by working to prevent and cure childhood cancer, she has plenty to talk about.

If you’d care to donate to the cause, go to www.stbaldricks.org.

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HATS ON FOR JOHN: A hot item in north Sonoma County about now is one of the fedoras the Pedroncelli family had embroidered for their Geyserville winery’s 90th birthday.

The hat recalls those worn by Giovanni “John” Pedroncelli, who founded the winery in 1927 with his wife, Julia.

Ninety years later, three generations of Pedroncellis continue John and Julia’s labor of love. And my, they look sharp in those commemorative hats.

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TRUMP, DEL & SNOOPY: Monday was a big day for more than 40,000 Boy Scouts gathered at the National Jamboree in West Virginia.

President Trump addressed the crowd, which included some North Bay boys and adults, among them Del Raby of Windsor. He celebrated his 91st birthday at the Jamboree.

Del is an ex-scout and Boy Scouts exec who daydreamed aloud about going to the event. Then some scouting and Rotary Club colleagues pooled the money to pay his way.

Highly sought at the Jamboree are collectible shoulder patches that Santa Rosa’s Jeannie Schulz, the widow of “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz, helped to make for the Redwood Empire Council.

They star Snoopy and his bird pals as the Beagle Scouts.

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$216,000 IS WHAT? It’s a lovely sum to have come by surprise to the preservers of open spaces in Sonoma County, from an intrigued Forestville man who celebrated the outdoors.

Don Bradley was an electrical engineer, guitar maker, hiker, contra dancer, backyard farmer and lover of classic and electric cars, and llamas.

He was 67 when he died 13 months ago of multiple myeloma. He left a bequest of $216,000 to the Sonoma County Agricultural Preservation & Open Space District.

The sales-tax-funded district has placed into perpetual protection more than 110,000 acres of land. The district receives few gifts and the folks running it are eager to do all the good they can with Don Bradley’s.

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