By Melissa Dowling

The Jack London Yacht Club (JLYC) drew 160 members, guests and representatives from local nonprofits to BR Cohn Winery on November 14 to distribute the funds raised at its yacht reveal event in July. Twenty Sonoma Valley nonprofits received grants at the November event; the culmination of JLYC’s annual grant program, which also included one-time grants to La Luz, Jack London Park Partners and others earlier in 2021.

At the helm, adding comedic relief as JLYC commodores Ana Dominguez and Jim Burch handed over checks, were Tommy Smothers and Squire Fridell. Composer and musician Smothers is best known as one half of the musical duo Smothers Brothers. Alongside his younger brother, Dick, Tommy starred in The Smothers Brothers Show, a variety hour that ran from 1966 to 1969. Fridell is the winemaker and owner of GlenLyon Vineyards & Winery in Glen Ellen, as well as the writer of Journey to Harevest… and Beyond, which appears monthly in the Kenwood Press. Fridell is also familiar because he appeared in 3,400 TV commercials, as Toyota spokesperson for 29 years, and as Ronald McDonald in McDonald’s commercials from 1984 to 1991. He was also one of the last. contractual actors of Universal Studios.

JLYC’s main event is the annual Jack to Jack Yacht Race. The 2022 race will take place on Saturday March 26. The course on Sonoma Creek will run from Jack London Lodge to Jack London Village. The Jack to Jack event features an 18-inch run of replicas of Jack London’s Snark, each carved from scorched redwood from the 2017 wildfires and trimmed with custom sails.

“We wanted to put a smile on everyone’s face after these terrible forest fires and found that our great community really wanted to come together,” said the event organizers. The race did not take place in 2020 or 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and drought.

Nonprofits receiving grants this year included: Glen Ellen Kenwood Rotary Foundation, Art Escape, Sonoma Valley Mentoring Alliance, Kenwood Depot, Sonoma Ecology Center, Glen Ellen Village Fair, Glen Ellen Historical Society, JAYC Foundation, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Glen Ellen Forum, Sonoma Conservatory of Dance, Marine Conservation Institute, Sonoma Community Center, Pets Lifeline, First Responders Resiliency, Children’s Museum of Sonoma County, Homeless Action Sonoma, Belos Cavalos, Sonoma Arts Live Theater Company and Sonoma Valley Community Communications (KSVY).

Burch closed the event by introducing sponsorship opportunities for the 2022 Jack to Jack race.

“What a great group of people and organizations today,” he told supporters and guests. “We hope to continue what we are doing and are able to do it every year. Next year, for our Jack to Jack, we’re going to have sponsorships. This is something new. We hope to raise even more funds to be able to redistribute to our community. ”

For more information on sponsorships, memberships or events, visit jacklondonyachtclub.org.