Building to be named for Don, Sally Schmitt
Don and Sally Schmitt, who influenced Yountville’s development as both a tourist destination and a thriving local hub, will be memorialized by having a building named in their honor.
A former school multipurpose room that is now at the center of the Yountville Commons project will be called Don & Sally Schmitt Hall, the Town Council decided Tuesday.
In approving an application to name the building at 6554 Yount St. after the late husband and wife duo, the council said it was recognizing the many contributions the two longtime residents made to the town.
“The Schmitts made significant contributions after moving to Yountville in 1967 including re-imagining the Groezinger Estate Winery into the Vintage 1870 Shopping Arcade, opening the Vintage Cafe and the Chutney Kitchen then the French Laundry in 1978,” a council resolution read. “Don served on the Yountville Town Council as a Council Member for 9 years and as Mayor for 4 years totaling 13 years of public service making important decisions that helped to shape Yountville into the Town it is today, including recruiting Lawerence Halprin, renowned planner and landscape architect, to rewrite the General Plan.
“Sally is said to be the earliest pioneer of California Cuisine, cooking farm to table and starting the Napa Valley’s culinary movement with Don working alongside her in the business,” it concluded.
The naming application was submitted by Town Manager Brad Raulston, which is allowed under the town’s “Naming, Dedication and Memorial” policy.’
In his application, Raulston, a resident of Yountville, said that the town’s 60th anniversary of incorporation celebration (set for Feb. 4, 2025) will include references to those who most shaped it into what it is today.
“As a symbol of Schmitt’s [stet] contribution to the last 60 years of Yountville history, naming the multi-purpose room in their honor is a fitting tribute. Schmitt Hall at the YV Commons will become a place for the community to gather and celebrate in future decades,” Raulston wrote.
At Tuesday’s meeting to represent his grandparents was Byron Hoffman, who recalled with fondness his days as youngster growing up in Sally’s kitchens.
As an adult, he collaborated with her on her memoir and cookbook, Six California Kitchens.
He thanked the council on behalf of his grandparents and said, were they still alive, such a tribute might be a bit over the top for them.
“You know, Don and Sally were both incredibly selfless, so I think that they would be both honored and embarrassed by all this attention,” Hoffman said.
He made special note of thanking the council for recognizing not just Sally but Don as well.
“As a grandson, it’s amazing to see Sally’s story just out there in the world,” he said, “but thank you for recognizing Don’s story and his impact on Yountville. We, I, the family really appreciate that.”
Mayor Margie Mohler was thrilled to support the naming proposal, as were the other four members of the council.
“I’m particularly excited because I think now we’re beginning to tell our history, and there is so much rich history here in Yountville, and just by some simple names, you know, on a building, inside on a wall, people will be asking who were Don and Sally Schmitt,” she said. “And now we can tell their stories, and those stories then can get passed on generation to generation.
“So, I’m particularly excited about them being the first, but not the last, as we start to really build our history and share it with everybody.”
