Greetings one and all. If you are sitting comfortably then I shall begin. Coming up on the ballot in November will be the election of new school board members. There are already some very interesting developments as new candidates have now been announced. I have tried to find out exactly who is running and hopefully this information is correct. Up for re-election is long-standing Board President, Marty Bradford, along with Dick Browning, a board member for a number of years also who apparently had planned to step down but has now decided to run again. Two new candidates will be Ben Anderson, school baseball coach and AV graduate (class of 1990), and Ernie Pardini, class of 1972, Anderson Valley born and bred, and from a family who came here many, many decades ago. Hopefully I will find out more soon, but it would appear that with Grace Espinoza resigning, three of these four candidates will be joining Erica Lemons and Ydira Mendoza on a board that will have some very significant decisions to make over the next couple of years.
With this in mind, there is obviously going to be a period of serious debate and conflicting views in the Valley over the next couple of months. It also means that you can expect a few relevant Quotes of the Week to hopefully enjoy as we experience the wonderful democratic process in action. This week we start off with this basic premise from the American critic and magazine editor, George Jean Nathan (1882-1958) who said, “Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.” Yes folks, get registered and make a difference.
Public Service Announcements. #305: Tomorrow, Thursday, August 25th, sees the vets from the Mendocino Animal Hospital coming to the Valley for their monthly visit. This will be at the AV Farm Supply on Highway 128 north of Philo from 2-3.30pm. If your pet has shots due, or for most of your animal’s needs, this provides a great convenience for pet owners in the Valley that deserves your support, as does the Farm Supply which provides this invaluable service. And please note — due to the shortage of vets, there will be no vet visit in September! #306: The 2nd Guest Chef Dinner to benefit the Senior Center is this Friday, August 26th, when chef Diana Charles will be serving a traditional Italian dinner, featuring Chicken marsala, followed by a blackberry cobbler dessert and a complimentary glass of wine. Dinner is served at 7pm and seating will be limited to 60 guests. Beer and wine will be available and tickets, which sold out for last month’s event, are selling fast, so call the Senior Center (895-3609) for further details or get your tickets from Laughing Dog Books in Boonville. #307: It’s the final weekend of the month so that means it’s time for another Barn Sale. As always, it takes place at The St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church Refectory on AV Way just north of Boonville, from 9am to 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday, August 27th/28th.
Topics under discussion this week at The Three-Dot Lounge — yes, “Moans, Groans, Good Thoughts, and Rampant Rumors” from my favorite gathering place in the.
…In light of the upcoming election, perhaps I should not have been surprised to receive a request to place some flyers in The 3-Dot’s front window endorsing one of the tickets. Look out for the “Bendini for School Board — We care because we were there!” posters to appear soon!
…A couple of regulars were at Lauren’s Restaurant last week to check out the General Knowledge and Trivia Quiz held every Thursday evening. They informed us that The Major – the AVA’s own Mark Scaramella, won for the second consecutive week when this shameless ‘quiz mercenary’ signed on with well-traveled Brit, Geoff Thomas, and a team of young interns from the Boonville Hotel to form a very strong, multi-generational team that won on a tie-break question over The LURJ (Lee, Ursula, Rob, Judy) team. The quiz-goers also raved about the superb Pulled Pork sandwich, served with corn on the cob and Lauren’s delicious fries. Sounds like the perfect evening for groupies of the Major and admirers of a summer sandwich classic.
… “Young” George Gowan popped his head in at The 3-Dot on Sunday and said he no longer wanted his name to appear in the newspaper. I believe I made this ‘mistake’ over two years ago, but he can rest assured I will not do it again.
…It would appear that the Friday evening happy hour scene has taken off at The Buckhorn, Boonville, based on the reports of regulars who were in attendance as a large crowd of revelers ate and drank heartily there last week. The bar was packed, and the beer garden heaving; there was even a crowd of schoolteachers from our local high school in attendance. This was something of a surprise to some — particularly those, including many school students, who were at a loss to explain why none of their teachers were in attendance at the high school fall sports’ fundraiser the following evening at the Grange. I have to wonder too: why was that?
…Finally from The 3-Dot this week, it’s a few words from our 3-Dot regular, The Old Buzzard, in his insightful series, “Forget The Rapture and worry about The Approach of the Apocalypse.” Buzzard reports, “For some spurious reasons, this year there has been no County Fair Booklet distributed for this year’s event. This is the reference book-sized publication containing the details/rules for all of the various categories of events/crafts/livestock/etc that are included in the Fair for competition, plus the accompanying entrance forms. People have been quite upset by this situation, particularly now that many have missed the deadline (Friday, August 19th) to enter their exhibit. I asked around and the “broken printer” explanation just does not suffice. So once again it is like pulling teeth to get a satisfactory explanation to the kind of odd Valley conundrum that we often seem to experience.
Oh, dear, have I upset somebody? Surely not? Oh, well, I guess I’ll get my coat and leave. Anyway, before I go, with the hot weather still with us, please remember to keep your windows cracked if you have pets in your vehicle; children too, I suppose. Otherwise, Keep the Faith; be careful out there; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; and may your god go with you. One final request, “Let us prey.” Humbly yours, Turkey Vulture. PS. Contact me with words of support/abuse through the Letters Page or at turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net. PPS. On the sheep, Grace.
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