Wednesday, August 1, 2007 11:59 PM PDT

Only a few tickets remain for The Citizens of the Year dinner, to be held Saturday, Aug. 11 at The Ranch on Zinfandel Lane, St. Helena. The event, sponsored by the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce, begins with a 6 p.m. reception and 7 p.m. dinner.

Honored will be Citizen of the Year Bob Torres; Loraine Stuart, who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award; and the police dispatcher and firefighter of the year. The chamber also will give two Civic Pride Awards, one to Grace Episcopal Church and the other to Caldwell-Snyder Gallery.

Cost for the dinner is $85 per person for chamber members and $100 per person for non-chamber members. Sponsorship packages still are available. For tickets and more information contact the chamber, 963-4456 or e-mail dani@sthelena.com.

Wright joins Charter Oak Bank

Jim Wright, a longtime St. Helena resident, has joined Charter Oak Bank’s St. Helena office as executive vice president and regional manager. In this position, Wright will leverage his 23 years of St. Helena banking experience to provide the financial guidance and consistent support his customers have come to depend upon.

Wright said he decided to join Charter Oak Bank because he enjoys being part of a community bank environment. “I believe a locally-owned bank better understands our customers’ local business conditions, and is more responsive with decision making,” he said. “The culture of a community bank is more like family. I am looking forward to working closely with the staff and directors of Charter Oak Bank to provide the right banking services our customers need.”

Wright has been actively involved in several community groups both in St. Helena and throughout the Napa Valley, including past board membership of the St. Helena Boys and Girls Club, past president of the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce, past treasurer of the St. Helena Hospital Foundation, past board member of the St. Helena Education Foundation, emeritus trustee of the Napa Valley Museum Association, and past board member of the Napa Valley Economic Development Corporation. He is currently a member of the St. Helena Ag Boosters and the St. Helena Rotary Club.

He also has been busy raising funds for construction of the new agriculture facility at St. Helena High School and volunteering at St. Helena Elementary School where his daughter, Ashley, is a teacher.

Wright graduated from Napa High School and from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, with a degree in Ag Business. He and his wife, Jane, a local real estate agent, are Napa natives and have lived in St. Helena since 1987. In addition to Ashley, Jim and Jane have a son, Josh, who resides in San Francisco.

Local businesses honored

Nine Napa County businesses recently received awards for their successful efforts at waste reduction. They are Trinchero Family Estates, St. Helena; Beaulieu Vineyard, Rutherford; Coca-Cola Co. of American Canyon and the following Napa-based businesses: Cisco Systems, KLA-Tencor, Network Appliance, Nortel Networks, Novellus Systems and Pleasure Cove Marina.

The 2006 Waste Reduction Awards, given by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, recognizes businesses that have extraordinary waste-reduction efforts.

 “These businesses are helping to lead the way in terms of re-using what has long been cast off as waste material, and therefore setting new standards for what we actually define as ‘waste,’” said State Sen. Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa.)

Wiggins also introduced two bills this year designed to encourage Caltrans to increase its use of composted and recycled materials.

Ledwich promoted, Ribeiro hired

In other Charter Oak Bank news, Brian Kelly, the bank’s president and chief executive officer, said Michael Ledwich has been promoted to executive vice president and chief credit officer and Jill Ribeiro has joined the bank as assistant vice president and customer service manager. She manages the operations of the offices in Napa and St. Helena.

Ledwich joined Charter Oak Bank in early 2006 as a relationship manager focusing on growing the bank.

Ledwich has spent his entire 20-year banking career serving the Napa community. His previous community banking experience includes Napa Valley Bank, Napa National Bank and The Vintage Bank. A lifelong Napa resident, Mike is involved in many community efforts in the Napa Valley and is currently a member of the Napa Sunrise Rotary Club.

Ribeiro comes to Charter Oak Bank with 18 years of retail and corporate banking experience. Prior to her joining Charter Oak Bank, Ribeiro was assistant vice president and regional client services manager in the corporate offices of The Mechanics Bank.

She was raised in the Napa Valley and attended Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She has been the team captain for American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life for the past two years and has participated in the event for many years.

Governor signs nonprofit wine bill

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill last week allowing more vintners to donate and pour their wines at nonprofit fund-raisers.

The bill, authored by Assemblymember Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa), enables the increasing number of vintners operating under the license combination “17” (beer and wine wholesaler) and “20” (off-sale beer and wine retailer) issued by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to donate and pour their wines alongside wineries at charitable fund-raisers. The bill took effect immediately upon the Governor’s signature.

Prior to the bill’s passage, only wineries with a “02” license from ABC could donate and pour their wines at non-profit fundraising events. 17/20 vintners could donate their wines in some instances but couldn’t pour them under any circumstances.

“Seeing this bill become law has really been a labor of love,” said Evans in a statement. “Wine is part of California’s culture. Wine brings people together. Now, it can bring more people together in support of good causes across our state.”

Hospitality training begins Tuesday

Napa Valley College’s Hospitality Institute offers a premium supervisor training course this month for all hospitality professionals.

The new series, “Fundamentals of Supervision” is presented from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. on four Tuesdays beginning Aug. 7. Cost is $225 and Bill Cremen, certified CSA trainer, will offer the training at the NVC Community Ed Center, 1360 Menlo Ave. in Napa.

Attendees learn effective teambuilding, supervising, personality style strategies, and handling conflict and change in the workplace.

For more information, call Charlie Monahan, program coordinator, 253-3219.

Art, wine event is Aug. 11

An event that includes art from 50 Bay Area artists, music and food and wine tasting will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 11 at the Cartlidge & Browne Winery, American Canyon.

Attendees are welcome to wander among the art displays while listening to music and tasting fine wines at the free event. Art for sale includes paintings, jewelry, fabric art, weavings, wood carvings, photography and decorated gourds. Live music, with guitar and a jazz combo, will play during the event, and grilled hamburgers, veggie burgers and hot dogs will be available for purchase at lunch.

The Cartlidge and Browne winery is located at 205 Jim Oswalt Way, just off Highway 29.

Directions can be found at www.cartlidgeandbrown.com.