Sights and sounds from the Napa Chamber

Latitude 38 Rocks: I’ve heard (from my backyard) but never attended BottleRock, so I’ve refrained from opinion on the actual festival — past or present. I welcome the business generated by the 100,000 annual weekend visitors, and think it’s a great event with positive national cachet that belongs to Napa.

I do speak from experience about Justin Dragoo, Dave Graham and Jason Scoggins — partners of Latitude 38 Entertainment — when I say we’re lucky to have these three savvy, homegrown businessmen working passionately to make BottleRock an experience — and homegrown brand — that we can all be proud of.

Their vision states that the group aims “to blend music, wine, food and community to enhance and elevate Napa Valley’s reputation as a world-class destination to live, work and play.”

The thoughtfulness I’ve witnessed firsthand takes that mission a bit further, and includes “careful consideration and inclusion” of city/county leaders, local neighborhoods, businesses and nonprofits in the process.

I was part of a small, but very committed, group of local citizens who came together to try to help those affected by the August 2014 earthquake. We had great ideas, and even greater intentions, but if not for Latitude 38 grabbing the reins of the signature event of what became known as “NapaRocks,” our efforts would have certainly fallen short of the sold-out Michael Franti Earthquake Relief Concert.

That weekend helped us all get “back on our feet and back in business,” bringing our community together and lifting spirits, culminating in an amazing afternoon of fun, sun and music when we needed it most.

BottleRock is the equivalent of having our very own sports team. We can’t all afford Giants, Warriors, Niners, Raiders or Sharks tickets but we still support them and root for their success. We should do the same for BottleRock.

Welcome Napa Reprographics: Please join the Napa Chamber and our ambassadors for a newbusiness grand opening on April 30 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at 1529 Fourth St. (next door to RSA+) in downtown Napa. Napa Repro was created primarily to serve the large- and wide-format reproduction needs of our local architectural, engineering and construction industries. For information and details contact [email protected]. Please RSVP to [email protected]. Hope to see you there!

Random Act of Kindness Part II: The Napa Chamber of Commerce again partnered with Mechanics Bank for a “Random Act of Kindness” for a local nonprofit or business. Owner Rick Molinari and his staff at Molinari Caffe were recent recipients of the bank’s generosity, as patrons unexpectedly received free coffee, tea, breakfast, pastries and other edibles for a two-hour period last Wednesday morning.

The cafe has experienced inconsistent traffic due to ongoing post-quake construction at neighboring buildings, and the mad rush of locals — many tipped off via social media alerts — made for a great day of business.

“We sold out of everything and had a line out the door for three hours straight,” said Molinari. “Truly a great and very welcome gesture.”