Frank R. Howard Foundation Wine & Mushroom Train Climb aboard the Howard Foundation’s “Wine and Mushroom Train” featuring a local icon that dates back to 1885…the Skunk Train departing Willits and Fort Bragg.  The two trains will arrive at Camp Mendocino for lunch, music, a silent auction and an opportunity to spend time in the ancient redwoods.  Come enjoy wines from “America’s Greenest Wine Region” and food prepared by some of Mendocino County’s best chefs.  The event will feature local mushroom expert Eric Schramm.  The Camp, owned by the San Francisco Boys & Girls Club, is a spectacular setting in the majestic redwoods on the shores of the Noyo River.

The Frank R. Howard Foundation, as owner of the new Frank R. Howard Foundation Medical Campus, is raising funds to construct a new hospital and healthcare campus in Willits.  Plans include a new hospital, dormitory, medical office buildings, auditorium and a Health and Wellness Center that will feature an 8-acre organic garden that will be used to feed patients and staff at the hospital.  Proceeds from the event will go directly to the building fund

All inclusive tickets are $125.  For more information and to purchase tickets please call 707.459.3047.

How many tickets would you like to purchase?

One Ticket $125.00 Two Tickets $250.00 Three Tickets $375.00 Four Tickets $500.00 Five Tickets $625.00 Six Tickets $750.00 Seven Tickets $875.00 Eight Tickets $1,000.00 Nine Tickets $1,125.00 Ten Tickets $1,250.00

Unable to Attend. Would still like to donate.

Enter donation amount Option 2 Option 3

“A Day at the Races Part III”, Howard Community Healthcare Foundation’s annual hospital bed races, will take place on Saturday, August 14, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Haehl Creek Dr.  Local organizations and businesses have already begun to form teams and excitement has begun to build.  Each team will consist of five people and each race will pair two teams at a time on the Haehl Creek Drive track.

This is the third year for this event with the previous two years raising in

Willits Frontier Days and the Misfits of HMH square off at A Day at the Races.

excess of $40,000.  Prior to the event each team is in the “Neighbors Helping Neighbors Contest” to see who can raise the most money by collecting individual donations and sponsorships. A unique twist this year is that half of each team’s total will go toward the construction of the new Health & Wellness Center at the Frank R. Howard Foundation’s Medical Campus, while the other half goes to the team’s local non-profit charity-of-their-choice.

“Many local non-profits are in need of money during these challenging economic times,” explains Ian Fitzpatrick of the Howard Foundation, “and because they might not be able to host their own fundraising event, we thought it would be a good idea to work together with local non-profits in order to leverage our collective ability to raise funds.  We hope the “Neighbors Helping Neighbors Contest” will prove to be an effective way for local non-profits to plug into an existing event while showcasing themselves at the races on August 14^th.  Howard Foundation is making the event FREE to attend and is planning to make the event a perfect evening for families.  We hope that you will come join us and cheer your favorite team on to victory!”

Firing up both spectators and team participants will be live music by Samba Jamba.  With a focus on Latin music and with dynamic vocals in English, Portuguese and Spanish, the band has been performing all over Mendocino County for over four years playing an eclectic mix of arrangements including well-known Latin jazz, and Brazilian classics made famous by Sergio Mendes & Brazil ‘66 and Antonio Jobim. Get ready to heat up the track with this spicy group of local musicians!

Willits Lion’s club will be providing food and drinks for a nominal charge.  A dunk tank, face painting, raffles and other games will be available for all to enjoy.

For more information please call Ian Fitzpatrick at 459-3047 or email at ian@howardfoundation.org.

Choose the amount of tickets from the drop down below. Or, if you are unable to attend, but would still like to donate you have that option.

How many tickets would you like to purchase?

One Ticket $75.00 Two Tickets $150.00 Three Tickets $225.00 Four Tickets $300.00 Five Tickets $375.00 Six Tickets $450.00 Unable to attend but would like to donate $25.00 Unable to attend but would like to donate $50.00 Unable to attend but would like to donate $100.00

What a great way to leverage your local donations! Many folks are using the gift card as gift for the holidays as a stocking stuffer or donating them back to another local charity that could use supplies from Mendo Mill ie Commonwealth Gardens, Willits Kids Club, Willits Senior Center, Willits Food Bank, etc. For example, if you make a $10 donation to the Howard Foundation and turn around and donate your gift card to another local charity then you are actually donating $20! Double your money! If we have a couple hundred donors take advantage of this promotion then we can all really pitch in to create a WIN-WIN situation for our community.

You can make a secure donation HERE.   Print your receipt to give to Mendo Mill,you may also mail in a check or give us a call at 459-3047.

We are going to provide you with a small incentive to get the most of your local charitable dollars with a special drawing.

Each person that donates $10 or more through December 24 will go into a drawing. The prize is a gift basket of Howard Foundation items including 2 Mendocino County bottles of wine (or sparkling cider), 2 wine glasses that are etched with the HMH logo along with the Mendocino County Wine Commission ogo, a Howard Foundation “We Believe in the Possible” T-shirt, Howard Foundation Cookbook and License Plate Holder. The drawing will be held on Monday, December 28.

Thank you for your continued support and for taking advantage of such a great promotion from Mendo Mill and Mendo Lake Credit Union.

Click HERE to make your donation and enter contest!

A sincere thank you to our teams:  Sherwood Valley Rancheria and Casino, Willits Lion’s Club, HMH – Med Surg, Sparetime Suppy, HMH – Misfits, Willits Rotary Club, HMH – Dietary, Shanachie Pub, Willits Soroptimist and Main Street Music and Video.

Food was being catered by Kemmy’s Smokehouse BBQ Shack with the Willits Lion’s Club handling all refreshments (soda, water and beer). The Boy Scouts were on hand with their “Monkey Bridge” for kids of all ages to enjoy.  Ms. Tina dazzled the crowd with her dynamic hula hoop performances.

Ian Fitzpatrick, FRHF Fund Development Coordinator, awards Jennifer Ramming, RN of the HMH Med-Surg Team, her top 3 fundraiser plaque.

Each team consisted of five people each and raced two teams at a time on the Haehl Creek Drive “track.”  This was a single elimination event with each winning team moving onto the next round and continuing until there was a winner who can claimed, “The Bedpan of Champions” trophy.  Congratulations to this year’s winner, Sparetime Supply who narrowly defeated the defending champions, Misfits from HMH, in a heated final.

A unique twist to this year’s event was that each ticket purchased went into a drawing for a signed Eric Clapton guitar, a Corona CA, Black Custom Stratocaster mix copy of which he played since the Jimi Hendrix days.

Check out our Facebook page for pictures and details!

The event would not have been possible without the work of a group of committed volunteers. We’d like to thank committee chair Linda Buletti, along with her team, Donna Stropes, Roxanne Lemos-Neese, Linda McEntire, Gail Richards, Ginny Holmen, Judy Donaldson, Jolene Carrillo, Louise Holsten, Dona Fridae and Gary Martin as they organized the event from beginning to end. This committed group of people put in countless hours of time and energy to make the evening possible. A big thank you also goes to our sponsors who helped underwrite much of the expense associated with the event: Sparetime Supply, Howard Memorial Hospital, Adventist Health and Northern Aggregates/Mendocino Construction Services.

The food was an absolute delight and was provided by Kilkenny’s Kitchen along with local preparers, Ann Alumbaugh, Dana Lewis, Dorothy Roediger, Kathryn Sterngold, Linda Relin, Sulin Bell, Hellagood Desserts, Kathleen Lewis and Howard Memorial Hospital. The evening’s entertainment provided by The Bassics was timeless. Thanks also to Hal Wagenet of Modern Music Sound Services for providing sound and lighting, The Shifters for helping with parking, Ron Greystar Photography for taking such amazing photos, our auctioneer Voris Brumfield who did a fantastic job with our live auction and to the staff at the City of Willits who provided remarkable support. We are also grateful to the dozens of volunteers, local businesses and wineries that made valuable contributions of time, money and merchandise that made the event a success.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to all the members of our community as you continue to keep the dream alive with your unwavering support. Here at the Howard Foundation, we are extremely grateful and we can’t wait to celebrate together when we cut the ribbon for the new Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital!

The Wine and Mushroom Train pulling into Camp Mendocino

Guests began arriving at the Willits Skunk Train Depot at 9 am and were treated to an array of coffee, tea and pastries from Kemmy’s Katering and Pies. The Skunk Train, which donated the use of the train for the day, departed at 10:30 am and headed deep into the heart of the redwoods.

Train Singer, Greg Schindel,

Train Singer, Greg Schindel

serenaded guests as they moved from car to car, including the observation deck where they were able to take in the beautiful autumn day.  Upon arrival at Camp Mendocino, an intimate room with a fireplace ablaze, hosted the silent auction and wine tasting served by several Mendocino County Wineries that included:

Chance Creek Vineyards

CORO Mendocino

Handley Cellars

Jaxon Keys Winery

Magnanimus Wine Group

McFadden Vineyard

Parducci Wine Cellars

Weibel Family Vineyards & Winery

The lunch menu, which was inspired by Chef and Author Jack Czarnecki, was inspired

Guests enjoy wines from America's Greenest Wine Region, Mendocino County while bidding on silent auction items.

“We are very pleased to have been able to work with so many different organizations from Mendocino County and we feel that everyone was able to benefit by working together.  In addition to many local people we had attendees from places as far as Canada, Oregon, Florida and Washington, DC.  We were able to tell the story of the new Howard Hospital to a wider audience and succeeded in expanding our donor base,” explains Ian Fitzpatrick of the Howard Foundation. “We’d like to thank all of the people and organizations that participated in the event, and we would especially like to thank our guests who chose to spend the day with us.”

Meet the Chef:

In a nationwide talent search in 1987 Jack Czarnecki was named one of the top 16 chefs in the country by the James Beard Foundation out of a field of 550 chefs in North America.

Jack has appeared on about television stations across the country including “Good Morning America” (two times), “The Home Show,” “Regis and Kathy Lee,” “the 60 Minute Gourmet,” “CBS Morning News,” and several cable features including three appearances on the Television Food Network, the Discovery channel, and QVC.

Magazine features include half a dozen features in airline magazines, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Harrowsmith, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, People, and Town & Country among others.

Jack and Heidi, fulfilled a lifelong dream and opened The Joel Palmer House in Dayton, Oregon, which has received outstanding reviews in Food and Wine, and the New York Times as well as being named Restaurant of the Region by Willamette Week magazine in Portland.