Ready to take on a second language? Colors of Spanish offers a 10-week class, Beginning Spanish for Adults, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Mondays, July 22 through Sept. 23 at 55 Maria Drive. Class members will study how to introduce themselves and learn how to give and receive personal information. Cost is $250, plus a $48 workbook. Call 782-1084 or go to colorsofspanish.org.

COTS – the Committee on the Shelterless – has a new trick up its sleeve: a family evening of fun and magic. The Tuesday, July 23, benefit is from 5:30-8:30 p.m. and features music by the Mixed Nuts and not-just-for kids-events like face painting and playing with Lego. Guest magician Ray Hoey will be on hand for some sleight-of-hand, as well. Dinner and beverages from Lagunitas will be provided, with proceeds benefiting COTS. Cost $10-$20; persons bringing two cans of food for the Petaluma Kitchen will get a $2 discount. The Lagunitas Taproom is the place, 1280 N. McDowell Blvd. Call 765-6530 or visit cots-homeless.org.

Celebrate Petaluma’s reason for existence – its river. Spend an evening with seven local writers for “The Theme is The River” as part of the current exhibit at the Petaluma Historical Museum and Library, “Changing Courses: The History and Future of the Petaluma River.” Join river-writers Susan Starbird, Rebecca Lawton and Jonah Raskin; poets Bill Vartnaw, Patti Trimble and Donna Emerson and comedian Dave Pokorny for a lively, informative evening of words. Admission is $5. The program begins at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25 at 40 Fourth St. Call 360-8189 or e-mail rtsa@starbirdcreative.com or pmtrim@gmail.com to learn more.

Who can resist a Basset Hound: those eyes, those floppy ears, those long, wiggling bodies? If you’re a fan, the Northern California Basset Hound Club offers three days of houndmania: junior showmanship, regular classes, puppy and veteran sweepstakes, plus specialty shows, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday July 26 through Sunday, July 28 at the Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, 175 Fairgrounds Drive. Visit ncbhc.com to learn more.

Do hot rods and barbecue go together? You bet your secret sauce they do. It’s time for the third annual Hot Rods and BBQ with the Penngrove Social Firemen, from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, July 27 in Penngrove Park, 11800 Main St. The firemen will fire up the barbie and everyone is welcome to show up in his or her hot rod – 1974 or older. No fee to enter and no judging – just fun, plus dancing to music by Charley Baker, games, beverages and a door prize. You could win a 1952 custom gas pump in a special raffle. Tickets, at $5-$15, are available at JavAmore, 10101 Main St., Penngrove, by calling John Rossi, 981-7765 or at the door. Proceeds  support Penngrove Park.

Get some new impressions of Impressionist painters from 2-3 p.m. Saturday, July 27 at the Friends of the Petaluma Library art lecture series. Rita Dunlay of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco discusses the current exhibit of more than 80 works by Monet, Pissaro, Renoir and Seurat at San Francisco’s Legion of Honor Museum through Oct. 13. The free lecture is in the Community Room at the Petaluma Library, 100 Fairgrounds Drive.

Learn how to prune and train fruit trees for health, fruit and beauty in a class, Summer Pruning and Espalier, offered by certified arborist and horticulturist Ellen Solomon from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, July 27 on the Petaluma campus of Santa Rosa Junior College, 680 Sonoma Mountain Parkway. Participants will spend the morning in the classroom (212K Doyle Hall); afternoon hands-on in the Petaluma Bounty Farm orchard on Shasta Avenue. Cost is $70 and the class is No. 9447. Call 527-2731 or go to santarosa.edu.

It’s time to get your barbeque on – for the 47th year, the Wilmar Volunteer Fire Department hosts its annual chicken barbecue fundraiser. From 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, July 28, finger-licking guests can be well-fed and enjoy a raffle, kids’ games and fire engine rides. The event is in the Holy Ghost Hall at the corner of Bodega and Eucalyptus avenues. Cost Is $25. Call 415-990-9039 or go to wilmarfire.com.

“Love Me Do,” “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “Please, Please Me, “She Loves You.” If these titles make you want to clutch your hair and scream like it’s 1963, it sounds like you’re a candidate to attend the Marin Sonoma Beatles Festival, from 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday July 28 at the Sheraton, 745 Baywood Drive. Featured are the Pepperland Band, the Silver Beatles and comic Griffin Daley, plus merchandise, door prizes and a raffle. The first 200 fans will receive a free pair of John Lennon-lookalike sunglasses. Tickets are $26-$35: visit marinsonomabeatlesfestival.com.

Send your Petaluma events listings to Katie Watts at goodegg2004@gmail.com.

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