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Bird’s Eye View (May 25, 2016)

Greetings one and all. Are you are sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin. With so much happening here for the Memorial Day weekend, perhaps we should reflect for a moment on the reason why we get this holiday to enjoy all of these events in the first place. It is to commemorate US soldiers who have died while serving in the military. This day was first enacted to honor Union and Confederate soldiers following the American Civil War and it was extended after World War I to honor Americans who have died in all wars. With U.S. servicemen and women continuing to perish in various theaters of war, and whether you agree with the country’s foreign policies or not, I humbly suggest we all take a moment to think about this and ensure that their efforts have not been in vain and are deeply appreciated by those of us who live on.

Regular readers will be aware that during the summer I post a reminder in my closing remarks every week about leaving your dogs/pets in your car and making sure the windows are cracked open a little. Hopefully I don’t have to remind people to do so with their kids. Anyway, last week in Canada, the awful results of not doing so came about when a paid dog-walker left six dogs in her car as she ran some errands. It was a hot day and yet she did not crack her windows. All six died. As an experiment I sat in a car in the sun and closed all the windows. Within about five minutes it was difficult to breathe and I felt I was suffocating. It was a horrible feeling and I let myself out. The dogs had no such choice.

The 19th Annual AV Pinot Festival took place this past weekend throughout the Valley and apart from the fact that I failed to beat or even match my record number of lamb chops (82-biters and a little bone sucking) devoured at Balo Winery’s tasting room, everything else more than met my expectations. Full report next week (probably).

Public Service Announcements. #556. The Independent Career Women, a splendid organization, and in some senses one of the most powerful here in the Valley, will host their annual “Open House” tonight Wednesday, May 25 at the AV Brewing Visitor Center at 6.30pm. Small plates/hors d’oeuvres will be served and all Valley women are welcome, members and otherwise. Males are not invited for reasons that remain unclear. #557. Disappointingly, Yorkville’s Rockin’ Shepherd, Kevin Owens, and his band Reverb, will be unable to perform at The Buckhorn on the Friday night of Memorial Day weekend, May 27 due to the serious illness of one of their members who lives in Ukiah. #558. On Saturday, May 28, it’s Open Mic at Lauren's Restaurant in downtown Boonville. Dinner 5 to 9 before Open mic at 9pm. All are welcome. musicians, singers, poets, writers, impressionists, magicians, comedians, actors, fire-eaters, pole dancers, sword swallowers, ventriloquists, raconteurs, exotic dancers, animal callers, etc. No clowns, apparently they would scare any kids who might be there, and no mimes, please; they scare almost everyone else! For more info: 895-3869. #559. Also on Memorial Day weekend, on Sunday, May 29, it’s the Elder Home/Senior Center Fundraiser hosted by the AV Lions. Tri-Tip & Chicken BBQ from 4:30-7:30pm in the Redwood Grove at the Fairgrounds. In addition to the great food (including a vegetarian option) and a big silent auction, music will be provided by The Ukeholics & The Tiny Orchestra of Boonville. Tickets available at AV Market, All That Good Stuff & Lemons Market. $18 at the door, $15 in advance & $12 for kids & seniors. #560. The Vets from the Mendocino Animal Hospital have no more visits to the Valley this month. They’ll return on Thursdays, June 2 and 16. #561. The Bookmobile returns next Tuesday, May 31 (alternate Tuesdays for 45 minutes) at: Navarro Store 9am (30 minutes prior to Comptche); the Floodgate 12.30pm; Philo 1.30pm; Boonville (Apple Hall) 2.30pm. Phone 463-4694 for further details. #562. The AV Museum is open every Saturday and Sunday, from 1pm-4pm in The Little Red Schoolhouse next to the Elementary School on AV Way, a perfect thing to do when you have a couple of hours spare on a weekend afternoon. “The Best Little Museum in the West.”

Here is the menu for the Community lunches and dinners over the next week in the Senior Center at the Veterans Building in Boonville. $6 donation from Seniors for both lunches and dinners and $7 for Non-seniors for lunches and $8 for the dinners. Tomorrow, Thursday, May 26, the lunch, served by Marti Titus and her crew at Noon, will be Sesame Chicken with Triple Lemon cake for dessert. Next Tuesday evening, May 31, as always on the final Tuesday of the month, it’s Bunco Night. Dinner at 6pm, featuring Chicken Diane, with Cherry Crisp for dessert. All meals include vegetables, salad bar, and fruit, plus milk, coffee, tea, and lemonade. What a deal. Maybe the best $7 you’ll spend all week! Tai Chi is now available every Tuesday at 11am. Thursdays is Easy-stretch Yoga, also at 11am. Hopefully you will be able to attend some of these events and meals. ALL ages are welcome! Hope to see you there.

The Three-Dot Lounge is closed for renovation this week but our 3-Dot regular and intrepid reporter and social observer, The Old Buzzard, never sleeps and here is another in his insightful series, “Signs that the Apocalypse is Approaching.” Buzzard reports, “With nowhere for our local ‘menfolk’ to buy clothes in the Valley, many head to Ukiah and no doubt to the large department stores. That would be mean missing out on a real gem in MacNab’s Menswear in downtown Ukiah for 76 years and counting. That’s a long time in retail. John Hambly MacNab opened the original shop in 1940 and today his direct descendants are still the owner/operators. The 1960s saw high schoolers like Sandy MacNab and younger brother Bill started working in their dad’s clothing store and today the third generation of MacNabs is working there. Robert MacDougall, who as a kid grew up next door to the MacNab family was working in the woods as a logger back in the 1980s. Looking for a little extra cash, Robert hired on to work a MacNab’s Summer Sidewalk Sale. The following Christmas season he worked a few weeks at the shop to earn extra holiday cash. Impressed, store owner John MacNab offered him a full-time job. Robert has been standing next to the big brass cash register ever since. Yet, deep into his fourth decade at the store, Robert remains the rookie in the MacNab lineup. The store, at 111 North State Street, stands directly across from the courthouse, in a building that is more than a hundred years old (the red brick south wall collapsed in the 06 earthquake, if that’s any indication of vintage). But the real lure of MacNab’s is in the clothing. It isn’t the place to look if you are in the market for haphazard piles of cheap t-shirts, white socks wrapped in packs of a dozen, or plaid ‘shorts’ that terminate six inches from the floor. It doesn’t stock much in the way of gangsta-style apparel. No bling either. MacNab’s focuses on a handful of high quality brands like Pendleton, Carhartt, Woolrich, Burlington Mills, Wolverine and Chippewa boots, and a few others. Pondering the future, Sandy MacNab said it won’t be easy. He, Bill, Robert and everyone else knows the city of Ukiah continues to make life difficult for small businesses when it invites big box stores to town. This Approach of the Apocalypse is a threat to many small family-owned business. The retail field isn’t level, but the small shops are forced to compete against the megastores as if it is. Treat yourself to top customer service and some fine men’s clothing by dropping by. Trust me on this. Thank me later.

Thank you, Buzzard. And may I say how well-dressed you are today. Enough of the flattery, I’m outtahere. I’ve got to see a man about a sheep. So, until we talk again, be careful out there; if you break a leg don’t come running to me; stay out of the ditches; be wary of strangers with more dogs than teeth; show love to your pets, they will be faithful and true to you to the last beat of their hearts; think good thoughts; Keep the Faith; and may your god go with you. A final request, Let us prey. Sometimes poking, often stroking, but almost always humbly yours, Turkey Vulture. Contact me through the Letters Page at turkeyvulture9@gmail.com. PS. Skylark, read any good books lately? Hi, Silver Swan, behaving yourself? Hopefully not! Everything cool with you, O.J.? Of course it is.

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