For the second time in a month, a Sebastopol-area walker has reported seeing a mountain lion on a trail near downtown and the Laguna de Santa Rosa, this time on the north side of Highway 12.

June Hazleton said she was walking her golden retriever north of the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center and the Clahan ballfields around 7:30 a.m. Monday when she saw an animal cross the trail about 200 feet in front of her.

She thought it was a dog with an unusually long tail until it turned its head and walked down a trail to the right, toward the water adjacent to an open field that extends toward Occidental Road.

“I didn’t dare go any further,” Hazleton said Tuesday, noting she quickly turned her dog around in the other direction and reported her encounter to police.

She was worried smaller dogs, especially, could be at risk if they walk in the area.

She was not aware of an April 19 incident in which a couple saw a mountain lion cross the Joe Rodota Trail on the south side of Highway 12, near the U.S. Postal Annex on Petaluma Avenue/Highway 116, according to police.

Authorities note that mountain lions live all around Northern California, sometimes venturing into populated areas.

The California Department of Fish and Game says mountain lion attacks on humans are rare.

Additional information is available at www.dfg.ca.gov/news/issues/lion/lion_faq.html.

The tan building on the eastern edge of Sebastopol, the Grange Hall, will be getting a scrubbing, some plant boxes and some repairs on Sunday, May 20. Anyone willing to roll up their sleeves is asked to show up from noon to about 4 p.m. There will be a light lunch available as things get started and tasks assigned. RSVP to kaytt@comcast.net if you can make it.

Osmosis Spa in freestone has become known for its garden parties. On Thursday (5/17) from 6 to 9 p.m. the spa will hold a spring festival with the theme Vitality Quest. There will be local foods, wines, and teas. There will be a communal free enzyme foot bath. Instead of music at this party, seven health and beauty gurus who will be offering up treatments and classes in the coming months will be on hand to tell guests about their skills. There will be discounted mini-treatments, and the relaxing hammock garden will be open for lounging (or naps). The cost of the event is $20. Call 823-8231 to reserve, or go to osmosisvitalityquestparty.eventbrite.com for online tickets.

The tribal dancers (think belly dance) will be coming to town beginning Wednesday (5/16) until Sunday (5/20) for the annual Tribal Fest which lures dancers from around the world to share their skills. There will be classes and performances. Classes run all day from 10 a.m. until evening in every room of the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center. Food and wine will be on sale and there will be vendors at the meet and greet session at the center Thursday 7:30 to 9 p.m. For a full schedule of workshops go to www.blacksheepbellydance.com

On Thursday (5/17) the Sebastopol Senior Center welcomes outdoor photography Brendan Hutchinson who will show his work at 3 p.m. There will be root beer floats for all. The center is at 267 N. High St. Call 829-2440 for more information.

Analy High School students will hold Empty Bowls and an Open House, an annual fundraiser for the Redwood Empire Food Bank on Thursday (5/17) at 6 p.m. Bowls the students have made themselves will be on sale along with dinner to fill them. $10 will get you a bowl, salad and bread, and $15 will buy you a bowl, tri-tip (prepared by Sebastopol FFA), salad and bread. The dinner is in conjunction with the school Open House from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Analy High School is on High School Rd. in Sebastopol. Email info@analyhighschool.org for more information.

Science Buzz Café will have a neurologist in to discuss Music, Memory and Creativity. The brainiacs will meet at the French Garden Restaurant at 7 p.m. on Thursday (5/17). The French Garden is at 8050 Bodega Ave., Sebastopol. For more information go to www.sciencebuzzcafe.org

The Occidental Community Choir will be singing their Straw Into Gold concert on Friday (5/18) and Saturday (5/19) when they close the spring season. The concerts are at 8 p.m. at Occidental Center for the Arts, 4009 Bohemian Highway, Occidental. Tickets are $15 general, $13 seniors, children under 12 free. They can be purchased at www.brownpapertickets.com. For more information go to www.occidentalchoir.org

There will be a guided walk at the Laguna in Sebastopol from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Friday (5/18). It is a gentle three mile walk that will teach you about the natural treasures of the Laguna wetlands. Meet at the Chevron station parking lot on Sebastopol Ave.

The Hessel Grange in south Sebastopol will hold a plant sale and tea 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday (5/19). It’s a chance to get plants from local, organic farmers who know their roots and leaves, and to share a cup of tea with them. Free. The Hessel Grange is at 5400 Blank Rd. in Sebastopol. Call 579-9788 for more information.

May 26-A garden walk. Meet at the downtown plaza at 9 a.m. and walk a route along flower-filled neighborhood streets to a variety of private front and backyard gardens. The tour will spend a short time at each garden with opportunities to talk with the gardener and take photos. Following the three-mile walk, the group will return to the plaza around noon. Group leaders are Nick Kishmirian and Kathy Oetinger.

May 31-Dinner walk. Departs the plaza at 5:30 p.m. and the first stop is the Ceres Community Project’s new facility where appetizers and champagne will be served. Then, it’s up the hill to the French Garden Restaurant where a four-entree’ meal and wine is on the menu. The evening concludes with dessert at Bar-B-Que Smokehouse Bistro.  Sebastopol City Councilwoman Sarah Gurney will be the group leader.

Cost for the dinner walk is $40 per person and includes tax and gratuity. Reservations are due by May 23.

There is no charge to participate in the garden walk.

For additional information, e-mail Richard Nichols at rnichols@sonic.net

The “i walk sebastopol” series is sponsored by the city of Sebastopol, Sebastopol Area Senior Center and Sebastopol Area Chamber of Commerce.

Pleasant Hill Christian School has a lot of things happening this month. The school celebrates its 30 birthday, holds its 30th reunion, and one of its founding teachers, Janlyn Heath is retiring.

Abby Poole cuts out a butterfly in her kindergarten class at the Pleasant Hill Christian School in Sebastopol. (John Burgess / PD)

All this happened as the students won the Sweepstakes Award in the Apple Blossom Parade (all of them learning to play the harmonica in preparation), captured a state history prize with a poster at a statewide competition. Students who did a project on Vietnam just got an award from the military for their hard work. They also earned a trip to Safari West by giving the animal park life-sized statues of a zebra and giraffe they made for last year’s parade.

It was time to get Heath’s thoughts about the school before she retires at 63, largely because a form a muscular dystrophy has disabled her.

Tell me the history of the school.

The building began as a public school back in 1870. Luther Burbank planted a tree, and it’s still there. There is a picture of him surrounded by students as he planted it.

One of those students came back this year. He is 84 years old, and he planted a tree and took a picture of the kids surrounding him as he dug. He warned them that one of them may come back when they are 84 to plant another tree.

When did it become a private Christian school?

In 1982. The late Daryl Hurst bought the building and wanted a Christian school here. I had been teaching at Harmony School in Occidental for 10 years and had just taken a sabbatical to write my master’s thesis.

Then this came up, and I never did get that thesis done. At first we had just one room in the building. Gradually we took over more and more room until we had the whole building.

What grades does the school serve and how many students are there?

We have kindergarten through sixth grade, and we have a preschool that takes kids as young as 2 years, 9 months. Right now there are 33 students and nine pre-schoolers. We started out with 16 and have had as many as 80. As the economy dwindled recently, so did enrollment.

Janlyn Heath works with 1st and 2nd graders on their English at the Pleasant Hill Christian School in Sebastopol. (John Burgess)

Is the school associated with a church?

Occidental Community Church is our insurer. We take no money from the church, but the church gives us a lot in time and energy. Our church “family” has helped us enormously in the restoration of a run-down building.

When we first started, we had to get everything done from August of 1982 to September, when school opened. It was delightful work but very hard work. We also have an amazing parents’ club.

How much schooling goes to religion and how much to academics?

Oh, we are very big on academics here. We individualize the academics and stretch the students as much as we can without breaking them. They have chapel once a week, and they have heard from missionaries from all over the world who come to speak. They learn a Bible verse once a week and discuss it.

What are some vivid memories?

The first year, one of the public school teachers chose to celebrate her 100th birthday in her old classroom. She shared her memories with the children. To thank her they recited the 23rd Psalm and she cried, then we all cried. It was a tender moment.

Another time there were high winds, and we were waiting with the kids for their parents in the school entry. Suddenly a giant tree came down. We screamed for the kids to run out the back and no one was hurt, but that was frightening. The fire department next door helped us out. One of our grads is now working in that department.

Did your children go to Pleasant Hill Christian?

I never married, so no children. The students are my children.

What will you do in your retirement?

I am going to be here volunteering, sometimes teaching a class. I can’t handle full-time work any more, but this school is my life.

The dining and the conversation at a casual, donation-only pasta feast Saturday (May 19) at Sebastopol’s Enmanji Temple will pause upon the arrival of a special guest.

Cherry trees, a gift from Japan, blossoms along the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C.

Hiroshi Inomata, the Japanese Consul General in San Francisco, plans to present a gift at the community supper, a second annual benefit for victims of the earthquake and tsunami that ravaged Japan a year ago.

Inomata will present  a young cherry tree that will be planted then and there on the grounds of the temple on Gravenstein Highway South.

The gift will commemorate the 100th anniversary of Japan’s presentation of more than 3,000 cherry trees to the United States in March of 1912. They were planted along the Tidal Basin and elsewhere throughout the Capitol, where they blossom famously each spring.

Japan is presenting Sonoma County a cherry tree in gratitude for friendship the community has shown through acts that include Sebastopol’s sister-city relationship with Takeo and the 2011 benefit pasta feed by the Enmanji temple and the Sonoma County Japanese American Citizens League, which generated $26,000 in relief.

In late March, Inomata presented a cherry tree to Fort Bragg, whose residents responded to the devastation of the 2011 earthquake-tsunami by sending generous amounts of aid and materials to its sister city, Otsuchi.

Saturday’s public supper and tree-planting, an event of the Enmanji Buddhist Temple, the Japanese American Citizens League and “Pasta King” Art Ibleto, runs from 2 to 5 p.m.

Monday May 14 – Roni Jacobi will be on KBBF fm at 2 p.m., and at 4 p.m. will be on KSRO radio.

Tuesday, May 15 –   Efren Carrillo will join three other supervisors  at the Agave Restaurant in Healdsburg from 7:30 to 10 p.m. Suggested contribution is $50.

Wednesday, May 16 – Efren Carrillo will hold a fundraiser at Farmhouse Restaurant in Forestville  from 6 to 8 p.m. Suggested donation is $250, $400 couples.

Friday May 18 – Ernie Carpenter holds a meet and greet at Stumptown Brewery in Guerneville from 6 to 9 p.m.

Sunday  May 20 Efren Carrillo will be at the Vicini Family Ranch (5626 Vine Hill Road) in Sebastopol from 5 to 7 p.m. Suggested contribution is $50.

Thursday May 24 – Efren Carrillo will be at the Spud Point Crab Company in Bodega Bay from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Saturday May 26 – Efren Carrillo will hold a fundraiser for kids’ sports at  Sports City in Santa Rosa from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

Thursday May 31 – All three cadidates will dine with the Forestville Planning Association at Corks Restaurant in Forestville from 7 to 9 p.m.

Tuesday June 5 is Election Day, and everyone can take a breath!

All three candidates have websites with more information: efrencarrillo.com, ErnieCarpenterForSupervisor and VeronicaJacobi.com.