Historical Records Commission announces winners of this year’s Collections and Archives Recognition Awards

The Sonoma County Historical Records Commission today announced five recipients of its second annual Collections and Archives Recognition Awards. These awards recognize the accomplishments and contributions of individuals, groups, agencies, collections, or archives located within Sonoma County and focus on existing collections as well as recognizing special efforts to preserve and use archival material in promoting history and cultural preservation.

The awards will be presented in conjunction with the Sonoma County Historical Society’s annual meeting at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa on March 12.

This year, the Historical Records Commission will bestow five separate awards to a diverse group of four individuals and one organization for their special projects. The recipients include:

• Roberto Esteves, who will be honored for 12 years of dedicated volunteer service to the Russian River Historical Society.
• Edward Gilardi, who will be recognized for his 14 years of dedicated service to the Cotati Historical Society.
• Solange Russek, who will be recognized for four years of work to preserve and maintain the records of the 125-plus-year-old Petaluma Women’s Club.
• Betsy Penn, who will be honored for more than 10 years of public service preserving the records of the Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder’s office.
• The Sonoma County Library also will be honored with an award for its year-long efforts to move the documents of the Sonoma County Archives from Los Guilicos, under repeated threat of wildfires, to a safer location, and its ongoing efforts to improve discoverability and access to these records.

The Sonoma County Historical Society annual luncheon and awards ceremony is set to take place on Sunday, March 12 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Flamingo Resort, 2777 4^th St. in Santa Rosa. For more information, visit sonomacountyhistory.org/annual-luncheon.

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Contact Information:
Amanda S. King
Chief Deputy County Clerk-Recorder
(707) 565-1805 
Amanda.King@sonoma-county.org