Pink ‘D,’ Jolly Roger greet Plaza visitors

For a brief, shining moment over the weekend, the “Sonomawood” sign became a political message.Normally the sign’s tall wooden letters – erected every year by Creekside High School students in honor of the Sonoma International Film Festival – are all white, just like the famous Hollywood sign.But early Sunday morning, in a “spirit of rebelliousness” according to Walt Williams, someone painted the last letter of the sign bright pink and flew a Jolly Roger flag over it – a reference to recent debates over the pink door of Grandma Linda’s Ice Cream shop and the Jolly Roger pirate flag flying over Burgers & Vine restaurant.Williams, a teacher at Creekside High School whose students built the sign and set it up each year, said they are studying the topic of social responsibility, and “apparently somebody took that to extreme.”He said topics of discussion include, “Where does one person’s art become another person’s frustration and blight?” That question gets at the heart of two recent squabbles over decor at the northeast corner of the Plaza: the ice cream shop’s bright door and façade – which the owners painted pink after getting permission to do so from the city Design Review and Historic Preservation Commission – and the restaurant’s pirate flag, which the owners feel should not require special permission from the city, but does.Thus the modified “D” in “Sonomawood” Sunday morning, which Williams agreed was probably done by Creekside students. He said Mary Catherine Cutcliffe, the film festival’s director of operations, received a call from city planner David Goodison asking that the sign be changed back, and she in turn asked Robert Wilson of Sonoma Old School skate shop, a festival volunteer, if he would take care of it, “because he was there and he had tools.”Wilson quickly took down the flag and had two volunteers spray-paint the “D” white again. Then Williams, having finished watching “Rio 2” with his son, saw what had happened and repainted the letter with the same shade of white as the rest of the sign.For Williams, the idea of city regulations – and whether a pink door or a pirate flag run afoul of them – was fresh in his mind given the hoops he said he and the students jump through so the project can be installed on the Plaza. “Every year we have to get it approved by the City Council,” then inspected by city staff to make sure it meets all the requirements. A schematic is drawn up as well, with angles and dimensions submitted for inspection. For example, the letters’ rear supports should be 8-feet, 3-inches long and angled at 53 degrees. Once up, city plans examiner Joe Burroughs arrives to make sure everything is correct, including the types of screws being used. “It’s actually become a little comedic,” Williams said.Asked his opinion of the pink “D,” Burgers & Vine co-owner Carlo Cavallo joked, “It wasn’t us!”Cavallo noted that even Kevin McNeely, executive director of the film festival, had shown support for Burgers & Vine when the Jolly Roger debate broke. And, he added, of the briefly hoisted SONOMAWOOD pirate flag, “We feel honored.” “The kids are with us so that’s all we care about.”On that, Williams struck a similar chord. “It’s all about the kids,” the Creekside teacher said.