Rohnert Park's Fall Runs Through One Lawn on Snyder Lane
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
"My grandchildren didn't even know about this event when I told them about it," Giovanna DeSimone told the Community Voice. She serves on the committee that brought Rohnert Park Founders Day back on Saturday, Sept. 26, the first time it had been held since 2018. An eight-year break is long enough for a tradition to drop out of a family's memory. The return also brought something back into focus. Rohnert Park's main civic gatherings all happen in one place. The city has no downtown square yet, so the lawn at the Rohnert Park Community Center, 5401 Snyder Lane, does that job, and this fall's calendar puts it to work almost every month.
The Founders Day route shows how the Snyder Lane corridor fits together. Groups, local businesses and organizations walked down Snyder Lane from Lawrence Jones Middle School. They passed a judges' table set up in front of the Community Center and finished at the high school. Grand Marshal Barbara Novak rode in a classic black Ford convertible. Rick Navarro, the newly sworn-in Director of Public Safety, waved from the passenger side of the ladder truck at the front of the procession.
Organizers Shari Lorenz and Jen Wiltermood made it a celebration of three anniversaries at once: Rohnert Park's 64th birthday, Rancho Cotate High School's 60th and America's 250th. The city's event listing named Sonoma Mountain Twilight Rotary as host. The afternoon looked like a hometown party. Hay bales ringed the main stage, where The Hots and The Juggs played. A stroller parking area formed beside the children's corner. O'Reilly Auto Parts - Rohnert Park sponsored the Classic Car Show, which ran next to the Rib and Chili Cook Off.
The cook-off lineup was local all the way down: Cotati Barbecue Company, Yes Dear Barbecue, Good Ol' Boys, Sonoma Mountain Twilight Rotary, Rohnert Park and Cotati Rotary, and Doobie Nights. The Rotary Club poured beer and wine, and Treasure Hound Cocktails ran a cocktail trailer in the front courtyard. The Community Voice's full recap lists the parade award winners.
Founders Day opened the season. The city's calendar keeps the Community Center busy straight into the holidays.
| Date | Event | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Halloween Carnival with Día de los Muertos Celebration | Noon to 5 p.m. | Free; small fee for carnival games |
| Veterans Day | Veterans Day observance | 11 a.m. | Not listed |
| Fri. and Sat., Nov. 27 and 28 | 47th Annual Holiday Arts and Crafts Faire | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. | Free admission |
| Date not yet posted | Holiday Lights + Rec the Halls with plaza tree lighting | 5 to 7:30 p.m. | Not listed |
The Halloween Carnival pairs costumes with community altars. The city's listing also promises live performances, wildlife animals, a magic show and a haunted maze. Some outside event sites list a 2 to 7 p.m. window. The city's own page says noon to 5 p.m., so go by that.
The Holiday Arts and Crafts Faire is the longest-running event on the list, now in its 47th year. This year it lands on the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Its Little Elves' Workshop has trained staff helping children write letters to Santa and make holiday crafts, which lets parents shop handmade gifts and seasonal decor.
A Community Voice preview of 2026 Community Services events lists Holiday Lights + Rec the Halls at the Community Complex, with a ceremonial tree lighting on the plaza. It doesn't give a date yet. Last year's event was on Dec. 6, but that date hasn't been confirmed for 2026.
The Halloween Carnival ends at 5 p.m. and the Holiday Faire at 4 p.m., and that's when the Green Music Center at Sonoma State, 1801 East Cotati Avenue, picks up the evening. The Halloween weekend shows how neatly the two fit together:
The rest of the 2026–27 season gives the fall a run of big Weill Hall nights:
Oct. 18 can fill a whole day before Ingrid Michaelson goes on at 7 p.m. Sally Tomatoes is holding Sally's Oktoberfest that Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the SOMO Village Event Center, 1100 Valley House Drive. The ticket listing shows prices starting at $7.18.
On most nights, the city's late hours happen at Graton Resort & Casino, 288 Golf Course Drive W. Its newest addition opened this September. Neon Kitty is what chef Jennifer Murphy-Ellamar calls an "Asian bodega." She taste-tested nearly 90 kinds of instant ramen to stock what she calls her ramen library, and her personal favorite is Menraku Tonkotsu, with a creamy pork broth. Sonoma Magazine describes it as a fix for a 13-year-old problem at the casino: how to feed guests late at night. "Whether it's 4 p.m. or 4 a.m., the process is simple," the magazine wrote. "Pick a ramen. Any ramen." The shelves also carry egg-salad sandwiches, bao, Korean hot dogs, onigiri and Spam musubi.
Neon Kitty is the casual follow-up to a much bigger opening. In early May, Murphy-Ellamar and chef Roy Ellamar opened AYA, a 28,000-square-foot rooftop restaurant with a menu that draws on their Hawaiian and Filipino heritage and on local seafood. Roy Ellamar told Sonoma Magazine that local diners kept asking for a seafood restaurant with more ambition. AYA opened with the resort's new nonsmoking wing, along with Playbook Sports Bar and SoCo Dough Co.
The rest of the street is changing more slowly. Amy's Drive Thru at 58 Golf Course Drive West served its last meal on March 8, ending a 10-year run there. The Press Democrat reported in July that Raising Cane's signed a lease for the site and filed plans for a 4,098-square-foot restaurant, with an opening planned for late 2027.
The lawn hosts so much partly because Rohnert Park hasn't built the square that would normally take these events. In November 2025, the city agreed to preliminary terms with developer CenterCal for 6400 State Farm Drive, the proposed downtown site on the SMART line. The plan calls for 300 or more homes, more than 140,000 square feet of retail, a hotel and a one-acre event plaza. The city expected the final approvals in the second half of 2026. When the City Council approved the concept on Nov. 18, 2025, the Press Democrat reported that construction was expected between 2027 and 2029. No public update so far this fall confirms that the approvals happened on schedule.
Two smaller projects could show up on the city calendar before the plaza does. Alicia Park is at 300 Arlen Drive. This spring, the city budgeted $1,324,000 to replace and relocate its playground. A Community Voice column described plans for an inclusive playground closer to the center of the park, with construction from July through October and a ribbon-cutting this fall. East of town, the Copeland Creek Trail extension will link the Sonoma State campus to Crane Creek Regional Park. In April, a Sonoma County Regional Parks letter said its 90-foot bridge was in place and called the connection "nearing reality," with a ribbon-cutting still to come. Neither has a public opening date yet. Until the downtown plaza is built, the city's tree lighting is planned for the plaza at the Community Complex. The Halloween Carnival and the Holiday Faire stay at 5401 Snyder Lane, the same address where this year's parade passed the judges' table.
Rhonda Alderman has been watching Rohnert Park traditions come and go for more than 20 years. Founders Day's return is the kind of local detail she weaves into every Elite Showcase listing. If this fall has you wondering what your home near Snyder Lane or anywhere in Rohnert Park could sell for, Rhonda Alderman offers a no-obligation look at today's numbers. Request Your Complimentary Home Valuation.
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