About Us

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Cindy Kerson has had many leadership roles in her field of applied neuroscience. This is her first venture in Napa’s local non-profits and was inspired when the Dry Creek Lokoya Fire Department and other fire agencies protected her community from the 2017 Nuns fire. She reached out to volunteer. Little did she know that it would lead to the position of Chair of the Home Winemakers Classic, and especially during these challenging years. There’s no turning back, Cindy loves the Napa Valley and welcomes the opportunity to co-develop community events that showcase home winemakers and support wildfire preparedness awareness with the amazing HWC team she feels honored to be a part of. Besides, she loves a good party!

Gary Green has had a long and satisfying career in two areas to help society. As a young boy, he heard President Kennedy’s moving speech asking what we could do for our country. To that end in 1978, he became a teacher and a volunteer firefighter. He couldn’t have asked for a better way to serve; with one position that was paid and one that was to volunteer.

Gary and his teaching team started a multi-age, project-based classroom in the middle schools in Sonoma Valley. He was selected twice as the Teacher of the Year before retiring from teaching in 2009.

He continued serving Napa County and the state of California as a volunteer firefighter, training officer, assistant chief, and, finally, fire chief of the Dry Creek-Lokoya Volunteer Fire Department (DCL). Gary also became a strike team leader and took a group of five engines to various locations throughout California to fight fires and helped organize and run the Home Winemakers Classic (HWC), the fundraiser for DCL. He was selected as Fire Captain of the Year for the State of California in 1990.

Gary retired after 41 years from the fire department in March 2020, finding it very fitting to continue with the Mount Veeder Fire Safe Council (MVFSC) since it was started by the DCL fire department in 2001. Now, MVFSC is a non-profit organization and separate from DCL and Gary found that stepping in as the treasurer was a perfect fit. DCL now has a budget from Napa County Fire Department and has handed over the HWC to the MVFSC to support our fire prevention and education programs. He hopes to serve as long as he is able to support our community.

With an inquisitive mind, a short attention span, and an entrepreneurial spirit, Joanne Sutro’s career has spanned multiple fields and could never be described as boring. Retired since 2019, she spent many years in the broadcast industry, started several small businesses, and eventually found that contributing her talents in the nonprofit sector was deeply satisfying.

A long-time member of the Mt. Veeder Fire Safe Council Board, Joanne is committed to reducing the risk of wildfire through public education, mitigation projects, and FUNdraising efforts such as the HWC! She lives at the base of Mt. Veeder and has a deep appreciation for the incredible natural beauty and bounty of this region 

A relative newcomer to Napa, Bob, and his wife, Pam, retired from Southern California real estate and moved up on to Mt. Veeder in 2017. In the middle of an extensive remodel to what was originally the 1921 Enterprise School, the Nuns Fire struck. Firemen stopped the fire about 15 feet from their property. Welcome to Napa. . .

Bob felt he needed to learn more about fire safety and soon joined the Mt. Veeder Fire Safe Council (MVFSC). He's had extensive involvement with non-profit fundraisers down south, so helping out on the Home Winemakers Classic fundraiser for MVFSC was a good fit.

Bob appreciates all the donors and bidders who are helping us achieve our fundraising goals. There is truly a community spirit of recognizing and wanting to address the critical need of wildfire safety.

Johanna has lived in the Napa Valley since 1982, on Mt. Veeder with her husband, Harris Nussbaum. They were fortunate not to lose their home in the 2017 fire and have deep appreciation and gratitude for all the fire units that responded. 

In the early days, Johanna rode her horse throughout the mountain and enjoyed the views from the top of Veeder. She watched the expansion with more homes and wineries. 

Both she and her husband are retired educators here in Napa. Johanna was an education specialist with the Napa Infant Preschool Program through the Napa County Department of Education for about 26 years.  Before that, she was an elementary educator along the Russian River in Monte Rio for 11 years.

Johanna is very much an animal lover and has a horse and a dog, and she is also a volunteer songbird feeder for Napa Wildlife Rescue since retiring.  In addition, she loves to garden, especially tomatoes! Anything outdoors is her cup of tea.

She and her husband have both volunteered for the Home Winemakers Classic most years, setting up the day of the event and helping to check out the bidders. It is such a fun and worthy event, more now than ever, this year in its exciting online format. 

A resident of Mt. Veeder/ Dry Creek WUI (Wildlands Urban Interface) since 1989,  Dr. Woodward lives with his wife Donna, UC Master Gardener, 2 rescue German Shepherds, and a rescue cat.

After retirement in 2010  he teamed up with the Mt. Veeder Fire Safe Council determined to help his neighbors safeguard their homes should a wildfire occur. 

In October 2017 when flames came within 30 ft. of his home while burning through the surrounding forest,  the shared wisdom from this amazing group saved his home.

Having learned a great deal from this experience he is eager to "pay it forward" through this Home Winemakers Classic event and fund-raiser.

Perry has lived in Napa for about 6 years. He is a native San Franciscan who stopped off in Marin County for 35 years before arriving here. He and his family owned and managed G&M Sales, a store that catered to outdoor enthusiasts, in San Francisco for almost 50 years. Here in Napa, he is semi-retired and enjoys living on Mt. Veeder with his wife (Cindy - HWC Chair) and 2 dogs, and nurturing their new vineyard.

An academic at heart, Dr. Carol Humphreys currently serves as Provost at Sofia University, a graduate institution with campuses in both Northern and Southern California. Earlier in her professional life, Carol was a social worker, child therapist, psychology professor, and psychologist. Indeed, it was her work at Napa State Hospital that led her to settle here in the valley. And, as many Napa residents do, she couldn’t resist the temptation to try her hand at home winemaking. With no real wine education, she first purchased and picked grapes from her neighbor and imagined making wine in her bathtub. However, Carol quickly learned about valley resources for home winemakers and reached out to Napa Fermentation who provided advice and used equipment. Her first garage vintage (2013 Atlas Peak Cabernet) was not made in the bathtub and turned out surprisingly well. Carol was hooked, continued to learn more from wine-maker friends, sought professional advice, started using a lab, and turned her friends into a volunteer bottling line. Since then, Carol has created fine garage wine for friends and family using Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petite Verdot grapes from the Oak Knoll District. More recently, she blended 9 % Zinfandel from her daughter and son-in-law’s Humboldt vineyard into her 2nd place, Home Wine Maker’s award-winning 2017 Merlot. Evacuated during the 2017 fires for ten days, Carol knows the value of fire education and prevention. In addition to serving the Home Wine Makers’ community, Carol is dedicated to supporting fire safety throughout Napa Valley.