June/July 2010 From the Publisher

This year marks a special anniversary for Auction Napa Valley. The prestigious fund-raising wine event has raised over $90 million since its conception in 1981. NVL’s Paul Franson shares highlights from the past 30 years as well as features this year’s honorary chairs from Spottswoode Winery. So much goes into putting on such a lavish event with over 1,000 volunteers, but who designs the look and feel of the event? Charlie Bogue takes a look behind the scenes with Five Star Productions.

Our cover girl, Sara Chappellet, is the new successful owner of Heaven and Earth in St. Helena. She said she thinks outside the box and wants to offer products and services to keep customers shopping in the Napa Valley for their beauty needs.

Recently a magical event took place the Napa Valley Expo in Downtown Napa. Over 300 area residents converged on Chardonnay Hall for the first-ever Napa Local Food Forum. I almost didn’t go because my week was so booked up. I decided to hear the opening remarks and knew right away this day would be special, so I rescheduled my appointments. By the end of day, so much had been shared, and ideas began to emerge on how to create a more local, sustainable food system for Napa Valley. In our new Sustainable Life section, we cover three aspects of the day, including NVL’s Mick Winter capturing essences of what transpired. Napa Valley Life will continue to cover the evolution of what transpired that day. We hope you will get involved, too.

June means summer is here, and we give you a lot of ideas for what to do in the Valley, both for adults and kids. Adventure Bob introduces a new feature sure to be a hit on the Napa River.

Napa Valley Life Magazine will continue to be the lifestyle magazine for the people who live, work and play in the Napa Valley as we expand our reach across the country. We welcome your feedback on what you would like have featured in a future edition of Napa Valley Life. Want to stay more updated on “What’s Happening” in the Napa Valley?  Follow us on our Facebook fan page or Twitter @napavalleylifem.

Your Publisher,

Kari Ruel