From mines to vines - Group that turns killing fields to farmland honors late Napan Erika Hills
By CARLOS VILLATORO, Napa Valley Register Staff Writer
Sunday, January 29, 2006 1:06 AM PST
Valentine's Day was always a special day for the late Erika Hills. Not only was it a time when she and her husband, Austin Hills, shared moments of romance, it was also the day she was born.
On Friday afternoon, a group of her family and friends, including vintner Mike Grgich of Grgich Hills Cellars, gathered at her home on Silverado Trail to honor Hills with what they hope she can look down on and see as an early birthday present.
In August, Hills, 61, was killed in a horrific auto accident along Silverado Trail, when the runaway trailer of a flat-bed truck driven by Arnulfo Avinia, 29, of Angwin, slammed into her vehicle.
Friends and family of Hills said she was a generous philanthropist and purveyor of peace. One of the organizations she was deeply involved in, Roots of Peace -- a nonprofit group dedicated to the global removal of landmines -- planted a heart-shaped garden at Hills' home near Yountville to symbolize her dual passions for peace and hearts.
"She was very involved in the peace movement and opposed to wars," said her husband Austin Hills, partner in Grgich Hills Cellars. "Hopefully, she'd be very pleased with the idea, doubly pleased if she can help promote the cause of world peace."
Heidi Kuhn, founder of Roots of Peace, said creating the garden is a fitting way to remember Hills and carry on the work she did.
"At a time in human history when we need peace, signs aren't doing it, but a peace garden (can)," she said.
"It's in her name that we plant this garden today."
Kuhn and Hills first met at the Hermes of Paris shop in San Francisco seven years ago and hit it off, Kuhn said. Hills became enthralled with the idea of turning landmined soils into productive agricultural territories, Kuhn said, and became a member of Roots of Peace's advisory board.
According to Kuhn, 70 million landmines are posing dangers to civilians throughout 70 countries. Roots of Peace visits these countries, de-mines them and turns the mine fields into farmland. Hills became a face for Roots of Peace and raised funds for the cause.
When Hills died, it didn't signal the end of her family's involvement with Roots of Peace. Both Grgich and Austin Hills pledged support for Roots of Peace, and Grgich himself joined Roots of Peace on a de-mining mission to his native Croatia.
"It's important because I hate war and killing," Grgich said. "And secondly, in my country, I guess there's about 2 million landmines. Each year 2,000 people are killed or hurt in Croatia from landmines."
Grgich helped plant vines in place of mines. Roots of Peace's Mines to Vines program aims to do that in every country where mines are prevalent.
In Mosul, Iraq, Roots of Peace turned landmine fields into wheat fields. Their work in Afghanistan yielded 500 tons of grapes and removed more than 100,000 landmines.
According to Austin Hills, Erika was also heavily involved in Seven Teepees Youth Program, a San Francisco-based organization that gives scholarships to inner-city children. She was also an active fundraiser in the arts scene, supporting the San Francisco Symphony and other organizations.
While Hills' friends sipped wine and reminisced about her Friday, David and Carolyn Jenkins sang a song in her memory titled "The Harvest."
"Be careful where you walk, there's thunder in the ground," they sang. "Be careful when you speak, freedom makes a sound ... and the roots of peace cannot be trampled down. The harvest will be found."
