By Barbara Barrielle
Lisa Mattson wasn’t home when the garage of her house in Fountaingrove burned during the October 2017 Sonoma County wildfires, but she returned from Spain to find a home so damaged that, although standing, she would not be able to live there for many months.
“We honestly thought we had like 3-6 months of damage to fix. We actually only have about six months of damage, but we had to spend eight months on insurance paperwork before we could start fixing!” said Mattson.
A year later, she knows she is better off than most harmed by the fires. She and her husband, Damon, both have good jobs, they have a place to live—although a basic rental—and they are half-way through to completing the reconstruction on what was their dream home. That is why, when Lisa decided to ramp up the sales of her hilarious memoir of the men and experiences that brought her to true love and a fabulous wine country career, she decided all proceeds should go to those less fortunate fire victims.
The Exes in My Glass: How I Refined My Taste in Men & Alcohol is a romp through a young woman’s realization that beer and bubbas weren’t her calling as she set off from Kansas and started a new life in Florida, which led her to discover wine and begin a career that brought her to Santa Rosa, where she found husband Damon, their dog, Dante, and her dream job as the Director of Marketing & Communications at Jordan Winery in the Alexander Valley. Funny, witty and best read with a glass of wine, Mattson’s dating memoir now benefits Sonoma Family Meal, an organization started by Heather Irwin soon after the fires and which continues today.
“I could use proceeds of the book to cover the costs of rebuilding my garage which was underinsured,” says Mattson, “but Sonoma Family Meal is still feeding eighty families a day. I’d rather the money help those who are less fortunate than us.”
Her day job provides yet another way for Mattson to get the word out that there is still need among fire victims in Sonoma County. Her boss, John Jordan and his John Jordan Foundation have been integral in supporting non-profits and community organizations that support families in need and educational efforts in many forms in the county in which he lives and in which his family winery has flourished. Jordan believes in giving back and, when a whopping six employees of the winery lost their homes in the fires, he was the first to offer each of them financial and emotional support.
Now the John Jordan Foundation will reach even farther by releasing their always humorous, fabulously creative Halloween video, usually sent only to attendees of their renowned Halloween party, to the public and donating $1 for every view to Rebuild Our Community (ROC) in Sonoma County. View, share and post away until November 1 and know you are directly contributing to the rebuilding efforts here where the fires have hurt so badly.
Lisa and Damon Mattson’s lives have changed significantly from the days they watched the fires from afar while they were on holiday in Europe. Now they balance their day jobs with meetings with contractors, filing paperwork, studying County rules for rebuilding, trying to get the garage rebuild underway, choosing new finishes on the house and simply managing life between a temporary and what will soon be their permanent home again—hopefully by March. Lisa says she looks forward to a time when she doesn’t wake up every day thinking about what she needs to do both at work, at home and at the Fountaingrove house.
We can support Mattson’s generosity by buying the book or at the Champagne Bar SIGH in Sonoma where it is selling at a fast clip once women find out how funny it is and how they can easily support Sonoma Family Meal. Buy the book and follow Lisa at www.lisamattsonwine.com for news on upcoming events on venues like the Riddler in San Francisco and other hip bars and clubs. Or invite her to come to your social or women’s clubs for an event that entertains and gives back so easily.
View the Jordan Halloween video above (and share and post) from https://youtube.com/jordanvineyard
