The Loose Cannon: Time to say goodbye, for now
Knowing that the Sun would be shutting down, I asked editor Lisa Adams Walter if I could write a “Time to say goodbye” column. She said “Yes, I would welcome a ‘goodbye for now’ column; our final issue will be on May 21.”
My response was, “Goodbye for now,” of course!”
“For now.” Two words that change the whole meaning of the sentence.
I have to say this about her: Lisa is a trooper!
Yes, a trooper: “One who endures adversity or hardship with an attitude of stoicism and persistence.”
That’s Lisa! And her late Marine Corps dad would have been proud.
She was the driving force keeping the Sun in production the last couple of years. I tip my hat to Lisa and you should, too!
I have this feeling that I’ll be submitting columns to Lisa again someday.
In addition to Lisa, I want to thank Sharon Stensaas, Kim Beltran, Sasha Paulsen and my own lovely, eternal optimist, my wife Lin, for encouraging me to keep writing.
These are the 62 columns I wrote as the Loose Cannon:
Through my columns I made some good friends along the way. One of them was George Rothwell. George was a valuable source of information for many of my columns.
It began in October of 2023 when George sent me an email in response to my column about the propane explosions in Yountville. That was the start of our numerous communications about Yountville’s history and my columns.
Just over two years later in Nov. 2025, George sent me this:
“…Bob Hurley, Don Surplus, Wil Anderson are some of the guys who meet [weekly for coffee in Napa]. Remembering and telling stories about the old days from the mouths of the old guys that were there. Most of the stories are said to be true. You’re officially invited.”
To which I replied: “I feel honored – There is no way I could pass up an offer like that!”
I attended weekly when I could. And I listened to story after story about Yountville from the latter part of the last century.
I wanted to retell some of these amazing stories in my Loose Cannon column.
So, I asked George, “Do you think there’s a possibility I could record the conversations for accuracy?”
George’s reply, “Good idea. Actually, our group talked about recording some of our stories. Not out of self-praise but history that should be memorialized.”
And that’s how my next project started. George and I partnered up to document those stories in a series of interviews. The first recording session took place at my house on Jan. 30, 2026.
During that session, they talked about how Yountville’s Festival of the Lights and the Mustard Festival got started.
George led the session that also included Steve Andrews, Michael Schaer and Wil Anderson.
We have now recorded five sessions around my kitchen island and have established a format that seems to be working. At this point, I’m pretty much just the videographer for these sessions and George does everything else.
George decides what Yountville historical topic(s) will be discussed, invites the appropriate folks and works out the schedules.
After recording these sessions, I upload them to my channel on YouTube where George accesses them for editing. The videos will remain unlisted until George decides they are ready to be released to the public.
Planting the seed:
And now I am going to plant the seed for what George and I hope to accomplish as a result of these videos.
Once we have several of these videos ready to release, we plan to approach the town of Yountville for support. We’d like the town to provide a platform on the town website for these historical videos that all can access.
Here’s a “teaser” that we hope will get you interested in the project:
From my Dec, 12, 2024 column on the Yountville Saloon:
“I’ve given lots of kudos to the 1960s Yountvillagers that got the town of Yountville incorporated and headed in a more ‘respectable’ direction. But 1970s Yountville was no less impressive. If I could time travel back to 1970s Yountville, this is the place that I would want to visit: The Yountville Restaurant and Coffee Saloon was located at the current RO Restaurant site.
Take a look at that place! Wouldn’t you love to peek inside?”
Well, the guy that made the saloon happen, Greg Cochran, came for our Yountville Saloon recording session, and he provided stories and pictures:
Yes, that’s the peek inside the Saloon that I wanted!
In this video, Greg tells the stories of the challenges he faced to make it happen, and how over time it became a destination that drew some of the best musicians of the day.
And sadly, what caused the end of that special era.
And here’s another teaser. This is the Napa Register of Oct. 22, 1973:
So, what happened to that tank?
Now that the statute of limitations has passed, this story could be told, and we recorded it as told by those that absconded with the tank in the dark early morning hours of a drizzly night.
Lastly, I need to thank my loyal readers. Especially those that took the time to message me about my columns. You provided me with the desire to keep writing and I’d like to know your favorite column and/or thoughts.
If you would like to be kept informed of my future columns, writings and projects, you’ve got to send me your email address: [email protected]
Until we meet again,
Ranndy Piña
Sponsored
Author
