I often ask myself how all of us at Chateau Sonoma can be more involved and supportive of the numerous charitable organizations in our area.  One non-profit that we have supported over the years La Luz, makes it an easy decision! The La Luz Center is truly a beacon of light in our town of Sonoma and everyone there works tirelessly to provide help through health, education and financial security to the Latino community in our hometown. 

La Luz was started by Ligia Booker in 1985; currently Juan Hernandez and Marcelo Defreitas are running the show.  Every year, Marcelo hosts the annual Fundraiser for La Luz, it is always an event to remember!  He transports his guests to a different country year after year.  Some of my favorites have been Cuba, Africa and Morrocco.  This year the theme was India and we were exported to the land of mystery and diversity.    

For the past few years, I have gathered girlfriends together for this particular event and as it is a theme party…we went all out with henna treatments for everyone! Finding someone in the area to do this was no simple task, but after doing some research and the help of a friend Robindra Unsworth, I discovered a woman by the name of Bethany, a henna artist in the area. She is an incredibly creative person and a spirit that when in her presence, you feel like you’ve known her your whole life. She has so much intuition and created a work of art on each of our hands that was very reflective of each of our personalities.  She “got” us and we could not have been more appreciative of her artistic talent and knowledge of henna.   

Henna has been used in India for centuries and some of its medical benefits is fever reducing, anti fungal and calms the nervous system. I had no idea that henna went beyond an art form on the skin and actually is a healing tradition. Bethany also turned us on to Dr. Drez who is an India sound ambassador and we highly recommend you listening to him on Spotify or Pandora, it certainly put us all in the mood. 

The party was held at K-2 Ranch in Kenwood and Marcelo brought in the camels, a Indian dance troup, henna stations and incredible traditional Indian food prepared by Elain Bell catering. It was an evening filled with heart, compassion, and touched the depths of our souls.  Be on the lookout for the La Luz Party of the year in 2019 because it sells out every time and is a party not to be missed!!!