Santa Rosa Growlers

Nestled between the redwood forests and large vineyards of Northern California’s wine country sits an ice rink named for, and built by, Charles M. Schulz – the creator of a little cartoon known as Snoopy.

Snoopy’s Home Ice houses Santa Rosa’s semi-professional Santa Rosa Growlers. Their badge tells a tale of the local area – a part of the state of California that has still retained much of its natural beauty and wildlife. As such, they can help us tell another part of the California story, a part that links into the pre-European world and helps create the foundations for what was to come.

So, without further ado, let’s #GetTheBadgeIn for the Santa Rosa Growlers.

Let’s begin with the bear. The California grizzly bear was the most famous resident of this part of the world (and appears on the California state flag as a result). The California grizzly bear once roamed throughout Sonoma County and much of the state, becoming such an important part of California's identity that it was placed at the centre of the state flag following the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt (when locals raised a bear flag and declared independence – two weeks later the US Army moved in and claimed the territory for the United States). Although the grizzly was driven to extinction in California by the early twentieth century, it remains a powerful symbol of strength, independence, resilience and frontier spirit. Today, black bears still roam (and are increasing in number) around Northern California in and around the nature reserves not too far from Santa Rosa.

The bear also connects the area to its pre-European history. The local Pomo peoples held bears in high regard. They were famous for a tradition of having ‘Bear Doctors’ – powerful spiritual leaders believed to possess special connections with bears and bear spirits. According to Pomo traditions recorded by anthropologists, Bear Doctors would wear bearskins, imitate the movements and sounds of bears, and perform ceremonies believed to harness a bear's strength and supernatural power. Some accounts suggest they acted as healers, while others describe them as feared figures capable of using spiritual power for protection or vengeance.

So that’s the bear. What of the redwoods that you can also see on the team’s badge? The area was (and in large parts still is) covered in large trees called ‘coast redwoods’ – they are the tallest living organisms on Earth. They can reach 370 feet in height and live for over 2,000 years. Regrettably, during the nineteenth century much of these forests were felled by loggers looking for materials to help build the newly expanding cities of California.

If you look more closely at the badge, however, you will see one last feature – the traditional wine bottle right in the centre (at least... I think that’s what it is? If anyone from the club or region is reading this, please let me know...).

If it is, it is a direct reference to Santa Rosa's location in the heart of California Wine Country. Sonoma County is one of the most celebrated wine-producing regions in the United States, with a history of commercial winemaking stretching back to the nineteenth century, when settlers established the first vineyards in the region. The fertile valleys, Mediterranean climate and generations of winemakers have helped establish Sonoma as a globally respected centre for viticulture, attracting millions of visitors each year. Even today, the town’s main tourism website markets itself as being in the middle of ‘Wine Country’, and there are dozens of hotels and homes where you can stay as part of wine-tasting experiences or nature getaways from the larger cities to the south.

So there you have it.

Grizzly bears in tune with local spirit guides, the tallest forests in the world and some of the world’s finest wine – oh – and Snoopy. What more could a team want to carry onto the rink every weekend?

Love it.