October 2, 2019 — The truly final event for Promise of Paradise was at the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah on October 2. Over 100 people came out, in the middle of a week that was full of public events commemmorating the second-year anniversary of the Redwood Complex fires. Against this backdrop, the memories of dreams, values, and ideals segued with special resonance into an honest reflection of what facilitator Kirsten Johnsen reminded us is an essential aspect of any journey: an exploration of what went wrong. What were the challenges, where did we fall short, and what did we do when our values were challenged?
In the final part of the journey, we dreamed it forward: what remains to be done, and what are we doing to meet the needs of our community?
Our back to the land panelists, whose stories are archived with the Promise of Paradise project, were J. Holden, Wendy Jackson, Tom Liden, and Sheilah Rogers. Our youth panelists, who offered a fresh perspective about how they think the back to the land movement of their parents’ generation has affected their lives, were Danza Davis and Kyle Farmer.
Promise of Paradise is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, California Humanities, the Arts Council of Mendocino County, the Judy Pruden Historical Preservation Fund of the Community Foundation of Mendocino County, the Mendocino Institute, StoryCenter, and Grace Hudson Museum.