Chris Smith: A year after the fires, a chance to pay forward the Stars of HOPE

After the embers cooled and the roadblocks came down late last year, many people returned to the ruins of their homes and froze at the sight of the stars.

Hanging from charred trees or the remains of fences, the wooden stars clearly were hand-painted. Many bore encouraging messages and the names of the senders.

Three of the stars appeared where Maria Carrillo High science teacher Teri O’Donnell’s home had stood in Coffey Park. They heartened O’Donnell, who discovered that Stars of HOPE were conceived after the 9/11 attacks and now are carried by volunteers to survivors of tragedy around the world.

To ease the impact of the fires’ first anniversary and to pay forward the kindness, O’Donnell and Carrillo students whose homes burned wish to come together with other MCHS students and paint as many of the stars as they can.

“Hopefully it’s going to be healing and therapeutic,” O’Donnell said.

The stars will be displayed at Maria Carrillo in October. Then, they’ll be taken down and delivered to a high school in Shasta County for distribution to survivors of the Carr fire.

O’Donnell asks for help to purchase stars, for $5 apiece, from Stars of HOPE.

Checks made payable to Stars of HOPE can be dropped off at, or mailed to, Maria Carrillo High School, c/o Teri O’Donnell, 6975 Montecito Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA 95409.

Donations also can be made online at: starsofhopeusa.org/donate. Click on “Write us a comment” and type in Maria Carrillo High School.

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THE PLANTS BURNED along with the houses ?11 months ago.

Some green thumbs and caring hearts among us want to offer people who lost their homes a start at replanting their yards, or beautifying wherever it is they’ve moved.

On Oct. 6 in Coffey Park, the Men’s Garden Club of Santa Rosa and more than a dozen local nurseries, retailers and others will host Replant Sonoma County - a giveaway of yard plants and seedlings.

It will happen from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of Coffey Lane and Dogwood Drive. Though the event takes place in Coffey Park, coordinator Merry Zavala wants everyone who lost their home last October to know they are invited.

If the turnout is as strong as Zavala and her partners hope, they may have to limit the number of plants any one family can take. But they will tell everyone to check back at 1 p.m. to avail themselves of any plants that remain.

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PAINT THE BARN: Imagine taking up a glass of wine and a paint brush, then following an artist’s lead to create your own keepsake rendition of the lost Fountaingrove Round Barn.

The afternoon of Oct. 14, artists and the women of Santa Rosa Team Phoenix will welcome paint-the-barn workshop guests into a Santa Rosa church hall. The Team Phoenix women are raising money to provide local gift cards to the families of every Santa Rosa City Schools student who lost a home to the fires.

Tickets to the Round Barn painting party at Church of the Roses are $45 and available at paintnite.com.

Tracy Merriken of Santa Rosa Team Phoenix asks that everyone check out santarosateamphoenix.org for other ways to help families struggling back from the fires.

You can reach columnist Chris Smith at 707 521-5211 or chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com.