Valley People (May 19, 2021)

JOIN The Anderson Valley Community Services District for a Wastewater Plant Virtual Video Tour of a Plant in Humboldt County with a facility similar to the one being proposed for Boonville. Presentation and Panel Discussion. May 25, 2021 from 5:30 – 6:30 pm

ZOOM Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81981921061

Meeting ID: 819 8192 1061

Or by phone: 1 (669) 900-6833

THE CHILDREN'S PLAYGROUND near the Health Center has never looked better. Tucked in a far corner of the high school campus near the AV Health Center, Rod and Taylor Balson, donating their time, tractor and weed whacker, cut back the grass so neatly the playground is fully visible for the first time in years. The ladies who finished tidying up didn't have all that much left to do, but bless them, too.

THE ANDERSON VALLEY BREWERY seems to be a perfect venue for events like the weekly farmer's market. Last Friday the market offered not only the usual array of local produce, a food truck appeared with a heckuva lush menu, and the Brewery was available for a quick beer or two. 

HELP WANTED! REDWOOD DRIVE-IN: Evening shift waitress — Evening shift cashier & mini mart duties. (Evening shifts begin at 1:30 pm and ends at 8 pm.) Stop in to apply.

SLUGGER ANDREW VAUGHN now a major league slugger with Boonville roots, made it to the Big Leagues last year and hit his second home of this season for the Chicago White Sox on Saturday.

Vaughn’s grandparents were Ron and Doris Vaughn, both graduates of AV High. His paternal great-grandparents were Erbie and Nola Vaughn, long time Anderson Valley residents. His maternal great grandparents were Walter "Shine" and Beth Tuttle, also long time Valley residents. Beth taught school for the AV school district for many, many years.

(via Jimmy Short)

FILIGREEN FARM — Velma’s Farm Stand — will be open this Friday between 2-5pm offering some vegetables (radishes, turnips, lettuce, spinach, garlic scapes, chard, kale, bok choy, fava beans, etc.) as well as fresh flower bouquets, our 2020 Olive Oil, quince apple butter, dried prunes and raisins. All items are certified biodynamic and delicious! We will have limited hours as we begin the season but follow us on Instagram for updates @filigreenfarm or email Annie at farmstand@filigreenfarm.com with any questions.

KAREN OTTONBONI followed up on her KZYX remarks about the appalling V. Sattui assault on the hill below Octopus Mountain (Little Octopus?) with this photo and comment: “This is what vineyards can do in Mendocino County.”

SATTUI couldn’t do this in either Napa or Sonoma counties where there are grading ordinances. Mendo being a free fire zone for wine grapes and dope, well, these kinds of eco-atrocities are commonplace.

LAUREN’S RESTAURANT BUILDING FOR SALE OR LEASE: Restaurant property with 2 houses, garden, garages, parking and more. One of the houses 1B/1Ba (Green) is currently rented out. The other house 2B/2Ba (Yellow) needs to be repaired due to fire. Great opportunity to make this your own. Possible Owner Finance With Down Payment. Across from Boonville Fairgrounds. By Appointment only. Txt Tamara Baxman 707-972-4706

BOB VILMS backed off his plan to conduct a control burn on his Peachland property after his plans inspired widespread critical comment, with Jeff Burroughs neatly summing up prevalent local opinion: “I REMEMBER when the fire dept. was run by local volunteers. They didn't have a paid fire chief, no property tax assessments imposed on AV property owners and a community that had little to no use for a ‘Community Service District.’ Nobody used scientific data to calculate the risk factors of whether to burn or not, they used common sense. And I remember that their control burns didn't get out of control like every single one has this year. These days there is a huge disconnect between big landowners and the community. These landowners simply do whatever they want and get away with it because they can. The fire dept. needs a local to be the fire chief, someone who understands the land and who won't even consider letting some moron set fire to woods when we are in a drought, the wind is blowing and it is 85° outside.”

SMART, PLEASANT young man outta Navarro named Kellen Lim offers:  “Are you seen? Is your product or message getting out there amongst the vastness of the internet? Friendly neighborhood Twin Giants Media brings local video production services, encompassing filmmaking, video editing, and photography to Mendocino County and beyond. It offers cinematic quality content creation and great storytelling instincts with the goal to attract, captivate, and, effectively reach out to audiences, either on or outside social media. With seven years of video experience and an impressive toolbox equipped with DSLR cameras, lights, mics, and an upcoming addition of a drone, Twin Giants Media is committed to help small business grow, stand tall, and support their communities. You can learn more about Twin Giants Media by emailing Kellen Lim at twingiantsmedia@gmail.com or visit the main website, twingiantsmedia.com.”  

NICK AND MARY ALEXANDER lived at the very top of the Holmes Ranch back in the early 1970s. We'd all hoped they'd stay, Nick a formidable fast pitch softball player and popular after hours companion, Mary a stubborn force for good in the Boonville schools. But they didn't stay, as explained in the current New Yorker in a long feature on horse racing featuring Nick called, — “Can Horse Racing Survive” by William Finnegan … “Nick Alexander’s wife, Mary, doesn’t come to the ranch much. ‘She prefers town,’ he says. It’s an old theme in their fifty-two-year marriage. When their children were small, they moved to rural Northern California, to a place called Boonville. Nick got a job shearing sheep. ‘I loved it. But I used to come home with my pants all covered with sheep barf, green stuff, black stuff, lanolin, blood from castrations. I wasn’t really all that welcome.’ He laughs. Mary, at home with the kids, saw their children’s futures writ in the local poverty and isolation. She informed Nick that she and the kids were going back to Los Angeles. Nick, though sad to leave, followed, and returned to selling cars. ‘I have this recurring nightmare,’ he told me. He’s back in the Army, stuck on base. ‘Everybody’s got a weekend pass but me. Mary’s got the same nightmare, but she’s stuck in Boonville’.” Nick evidently made a lot of money in the car business as he is now a prominent race horse breeder and chairman of the Thoroughbred Owners of California.

GREG ‘GP’ PRICE, FORMERLY OF BOONVILLE, VISITS VEGAS WITH HIS TWO GRANDSONS

JUST SAYIN' without intending the slightest criticism of the kindly locals who've put together a few units of senior housing, but… But the new unit being advertised at $900 a month is not affordable for very many seniors unless they have more than a social security income, which many seniors do not have, me and my missus being two of them. And 62 isn't that old. So I say, move the qualifying age from 62 to 72 and make triple certain that local geezers and wheezers get first priority. Or simply modify your mission to rent to families with children, many of whom desperately need housing. Not to be a total traitor to my shuffling cohort, but all these special considerations for the elderly seem to me an emphasis on the wrong end of the age spectrum. Considering that the young ones will be stepping into the violent, chaotic world we've made for them, a nice place to live during their youths, a nice place like the nifty little Boonville Elder Home, might be the more charitable thing to do.