ANNAPOLIS SHUTTERS ITS POST OFFICE, COMMUNITY HALL, TOWN CENTER

Tiny Annapolis in northwestern-most Sonoma County will wake up Monday without a central commercial zone, all-community gathering place or historic town center.

The mountain hamlet's 110-year-old post office was all those things and it has closed.

The photogenically rustic structure's owners, Gary and Dorothy Craig, gave plenty of notice that they didn't care to renew the lease and the U.S. Postal Service hasn't made other arrangements.

Rae Brodjeski, Annapolis' postmaster for more than 25 years, retired this weekend and the post office closed.

Neighbors will come together at the former P.O. building on Oct. 15 to share memories and a potluck meal and discuss if there's a glimmer of hope the Postal Service and perhaps Annapolis' only remaining non-residential entity, Horicon School, might yet create a replacement for this essential town asset.

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COLD AND TIRED, but resolute, were the firefighters, retired firefighters and fans who dived off a fireboat near Alcatraz and swam toward Aquatic Park to raise money and awareness to defeat cancer.

Four kids were among the swimmers, all of them Santa Rosa Neptunes.

Grateful for their wetsuits and escorts in kayaks were 12-year-old Jessica Kwan and sister Julie, 10, who live in Santa Rosa with their folks, Norm and Theresa Kwan, both members of the San Francisco Fire Department.

Joining the Kwan girls in the not-easy Bay swim were fellow Neptunes John Madden, 10, and Ray Monks, 11.

"I thought it would be cold and really, really long," said Ray. "It was cold, but not as long as you would think."

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IT'S NOT OCTOBER until hundreds of teens decked out in dresses and gloves, jackets and ties, stream with sweet trepidation into the vets building in Santa Rosa to begin Nord-quist's dance lessons.

A rumor says that because rental fees are up at vets buildings, Stephen and Shirley Nordquist and their family (nordquistdance.com) have ended their three-decade run of teaching local kids ballroom dance and social graces.

Not so. The first dance steps will happen right on schedule Tuesday at the vets building.

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SHE DOESN'T DRIVE any longer and she limits her walking because her back usually hurts.

So Euretta Martin sits a fair bit at her Santa Rosa home and knits child-sized caps, scarves and slippers.

"Right now I have 24 knit winter caps," Euretta said. She counted also 12 pairs of colorful slippers and 12 playfully fringed scarves.

It'll soon be time to ask a friend to help deliver a shipment to the Rescue Mission, whose staff will get the knit creations to toddlers and youngsters who don't own many nice things.

Euretta is grateful for something creative and useful to do at a point in life she never expected to reach. She let the needles cool Saturday while she celebrated her 100th birthday.

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THE PASTA KING will mark his 85th birthday today by, what a surprise, cooking at the Harvest Fair and kissing and regaling people.

It's been an especially busy few days for Art Ibleto. Friday he and Vicki toasted their 60th anniversary.

We'll see if he does it, but at 85 it may be time for Art to cut way back and work just full time.

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A SPECIAL GUEST will charm guests today at Calabash, the celebration of life, harvest and gourds-as-art at Forestville's Food for Thought/Sonoma County AIDS Food Bank.

He's Tom, a regal heritage turkey on loan to the food bank (fftfoodbank.org). The goal is to inspire spirited giving to raise money for traditional holiday turkeys provided to Food for Thought's 675 clients.

Tom's been living in the food bank's garden and doling affection to staffers and volunteers who respond with head-pats but suspect that what he'd like, really, is a girlfriend.

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