STEVE MIZE'S MEMORIAL SERVICE: Steve Mize passed away on Sunday, May 5th. He loved Anderson Valley and the people who call this beautiful place home.
A memorial service will be held Sunday, June 9th from 1-4 p.m. at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds picnic area. Please come share a memory, a story, or a photo, or bring a large index card with a special message for the family to keep (cards will also be available at the service). Beverages and the main meal will be provided, but sides and desserts will be potluck: names starting with A-J please bring a salad or side and K-Z please bring a dessert.
AFTER AN UNSEASONABLY cold and wet Saturday and Sunday, Memorial Day dawned gray but dry, just in time for the 11am ceremonial tribute to local veterans at Evergreen Cemetery, this one dedicated to the memory of the late Bob Nimmons who fought and survived the Korean War with the Marine Corps, meaning this modest and unassuming long-time resident of Boonville was one tough hombre. About a hundred people turned out to remember the fallen and honor the living, complete with a bugler and an honor guard who closed out the event with two, five-rifle volleys.
FLAG DAY CHILI COOK-OFF & FLAG RETIREMENT CEREMONY. Boonville Veterans Memorial Building. Saturday June 15. 2019, 1-4pm. Sponsored By American Legion Redwood Empire Post 0385. Note: No Super Hot Chili!. First Prize $200. Second Prize $100. Third Prize $50. To Enter as a Contestant Call Ray at 707-895-9363.
A READER ASKS: “Why isn’t Goodness Grows open?” Goodness knows, but rumors say the nursery’s failure to reappear for Spring gardening has something to do with ongoing litigation. I’ve always found Farm Supply to have a wonderfully diverse selection of plants, not to mention its fascinating array of farm-related goods.
THE ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE: In two weeks we will hold our next Village meeting on Sunday June 9th at Lauren's - 4:00 to 5:30. It will be the official launch of our interactive website. We will have tech helpers at this event if anyone wants assistance with their cell phone. Snacks and beverages will be available during the gathering and we will begin with socializing for the first half hour. We have been working on organizing group activities for the community... below is what we have so far — also, please let us know if you are interested in leading other activities:
Cultural Outings — theater, music, film, dance, etc. Organize events and carpooling to local and out-of-the-area venues. If interested or have suggestions, please contact Mary O'Brien, mheobrien@gmail.com
Book conversation at Lauren’s restaurant — the current book is “Being Mortal” by Atul Gawande; read the book and meet on Monday June 24 at 11 am. Contact Lauren for questions laurenk@pacific.net -
Morning Mile— meet up at the High School track on Saturday or Sunday morning for a walk, if interested contact Suzy Miller maps@pacific.net
Also, Hendy woods Community (http://www.hendywoods.org/) Events:
Free Guided Forest Ecology walks at Hendy Woods State Park every Saturday @ 10:30 am, June through September — meet at the Day Use Area - the Day Use Fee ($8) is waived for those considering volunteering.
Local’s Free Day! On the Second Sunday of every month in 2019, the Hendy Woods Community is covering the Hendy Woods State Park’s Day Use fee ($8) for local residents from the following communities: Yorkville, Boonville, Philo, Navarro, Comptche and Elk - Know your zip code. Questions: contact Anica Williams andersonvalleyvillage@gmail.com
RARE TREAT! We are in for a rare treat. Joe and Hattie are coming to Boonville! That’s JOE CRAVEN and his daughter HATTIE May 31rst Lauren’s Restaurant, the show begins at 9pm. Joe and Hattie will be coming from the A.V. Elementary school where they will be doing an assembly for the kids Fri afternoon. Joe Craven has been described as “not just an entertaining musician with a penchant for the mischievous, he is a teacher and student all at once and he will draw you into his performance by including you as though you’re part of the show itself.” He is also a monster on just about any instrument he picks up, even though it was not designed as an instrument, we’re talking bedpans, cookie tins, a mule jawbone, garbage cans, along with more traditional instruments, violin, mandolin, banjo, mouth harp, cuatro, berimbau, balalaika, I’ve even see him play his shoelaces. Hattie is blossoming as a performer. Hearing her wonderful voice along with her phrasing makes it so she “owns” the songs she sings. We’ll see how the show shapes up next Fri. It may begin as rather like a sit down concert but I suspect that that won’t last long. Pretty quick you might find yourself caught up in the music scatting with Joe and playing the bar stools. Check him out at www.joecraven.com. C’mon down to Lauren’s this Fri and pick up on Joe and Hattie’s great energy. (Cap Rainbow 895-3807)
FREE HORSERADISH. The Apple Farm has horseradish coming out of our ears! You are welcome to come and dig some up for transplanting into your garden (watch out, it will try to take over!). If interested please call Tim at 621-0366 or email applefarm@pacific.net
WATER PROGRAM RIBBON-CUTTING. Anderson Valley Unified School District and Mendocino County Resource Conservation District are excited to invite you to our DROPS Rain Garden/Rainwater Catchment Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony at Anderson Valley Unified Jr/Sr High School. The event will happen on Tuesday, June 4, 2019, from 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. on the Anderson Valley Jr/Sr High School Campus, 18200 Mountain View Rd., Boonville. Festivities include a tour and explanation of the new gardens and rainwater catchment systems by project leads and students, brief comments by organizers, education about low impact development stormwater strategies, and general information about the project.
THE REVIVED Boonville Farmers’ Market is up and very successfully running! Check it out for yourself on Fridays from 4-7:00 p.m. at the Disco Ranch parking lot (formerly Aquarelle), across the highway from the Boonville Hotel. Lama Nasser-Gammett, the new market manager, reports that she was sad when, “I learned that there was not going to be a market last year, but I was in no position to manage at that time, having just launched our new business as mushroom producers (The Forest People). I think that a vibrant farmers' market can really strengthen a community.” In the three Boonville Farmers’ Markets so far this season there have been a lively mix of vendors, activities, music, and camaraderie. The market vendors and musicians are in the parking lot and the outdoor tables are available for eating, conversation, and beverages.
Lama feels the open-air market, “…provides economic opportunity to small farmers in our immediate area while establishing food security for our valley. It also provides a place for the community to get locally produced food, which is fresher, healthier, tastes better, is mostly organic, and didn't travel 200+ miles to get to your plate. Plus, you have a direct link to the person that grew the food that is nourishing you!”
ANDERSON VALLEY’S bustling capitol city, Boonville, was crowded all three days of Memorial weekend, visitors and locals alike filling the town’s restaurants and shops. I especially enjoyed weekend visits to the marvelous displays at the adjacent open studios of Yoriko Kishimoto (paintings) and Saiorse Byrne (fabrics) then, the next day, the fine jewelry of Judy Nelson, the stunning panoramic Valley photos of Charlie Hochberg, and the equally stunning paintings, especially the large ones, of Laura Diamondstone. I regretted that my lack of resources prevented me from wholesale buys of everything I saw, and I’ll bet I’m not the only Valley person bedazzled by the abundance of local talent.
WHILE enjoying the paintings of Ms. Kishimoto, I learned from her husband, Lee Collins, a techno guy with NetFlix, that the reason we still rent films on disks from NetFlix is because our cyber-systems are relatively primitive, relative to the rest of the world that is. Jan The Mail Lady told me that NetFlix disks are the primary piece of mail she delivers from Yorkville to Point Arena.
THE CHARMING Miss Monica Delgado, a fifth grader at AV Elementary, popped in Monday afternoon to interview the two tiresome wheezes responsible for the Boonville weekly. Monica said the interview was a class project, and I have no reason to disbelieve her.
ADD to the gray whales washing up dead and dying on Bay Area beaches, the hundreds of Common Murres washing up dead or dying on beaches from Noyo Bay to Seaside Beach, about a ten-mile stretch of the Mendocino Coast. Experts speculate, tentatively, that the animals are starving, that the ocean isn't producing enough nutrients to keep them alive. I feel more and more like Mr. Jones in that old Dylan song about Jones not knowing what's happening except that, added up, it's ominous.
THE LEMMINGS, however, are thriving. They jammed north through Boonville all day Friday at unsafe speeds, then bombed back south Sunday afternoon, pausing in the Anderson Valley to enjoy our many delights. I was amused at a couple of locals warning that the CHP was in The Valley. Myself, I’m always happy to see them and wish they were here much more often given the way so many auslanders rip through here at unsafe speeds. We used to have a resident CHP officer, the late, great Burl Evans, a wonderful guy who also lived here with his family. And we still have Rick Rajeski who worked and lived in the Anderson Valley before he retired. Maybe Rick would come back for weekend duty. We could use him, for sure.
WHEREVER he is, I hope Tom Akin, lately of Boonville but not seen recently, knows how much we enjoy the small cactus garden he planted for us, and I wonder if he’d be surprised to learn that several of the barrel cactuses he gave us are already blooming. Tom also worked his garden magic for a few years at the Boonville Brewery. A lively, engaging fellow for sure, wherever you are, Tom, mucho thankso.
HENDY WOODS COMMUNITY begins this season of guided walks on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Walks begin at Day Use Area at 10:30 AM every Saturday from June through September. First Saturday of the month walks are led by AV botanist, Jade Paget-Sekins. Walks are free and park admission is waived for locals.
DISTRACTED the other day by the bustle of Ukiah's fascinating CostCo, I walked the mammoth store's seemingly endless aisles in search of granola. I thought back to my very first shopping experience, circa 1948. Schenone's Grocery. Proprietor Mario Schenone was bilingual, Italian and English. Everyone else in the place was monolingual Italian. Butcher to the rear of the store, plank floors they swept out every evening with sawdust, the portly Mario at the register. I remember him greeting a Russian customer with a merry, "Mr. Molotov, how ya doin' today." The Russian replied, "Goot, Mr. Mussolini, goot." Anyway, many years later at CostCo Ukiah, when I finally discovered three or four tons of alleged granola piled half way to the ceiling, I tossed a couple of bags in my cart and plodded on to hot dogs. The next morning I poured out some of the alleged granola on top of fruit and Chobani natch yogurt. "Hmmm. This stuff is awfully sweet." Taking a belated look at the package, I read, "Love Crunch. Premium Organic Granola." In smaller print, "dark chocolate and red berries." I'd been organically ripped off! I might as well have dumped a box of See's Candy on my fruit and yogurt. I'd negated my entire healthy food regimen in one bogus meal! Fortunately for me, I'd grabbed only one package of what appeared to be a life time supply, the usual portion of stuff sold in the surreal store. But really, even by the shifty standards of American wholesale, selling granola with big hunks of chocolate in it is uniquely crafty, and me a Senior Citizen!
SIGN on the door of the Buckhorn bar and restaurant says they're permanently closed. Which is too bad. The owners, the Condon family, were always pleasant and obviously worked hard. Sorry to see them go, but I understand the lease was a killer, and maybe the next owners can negotiate a more realistic one.
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