JOHN TOOHEY ASKS: Anybody have a best guess or strong suggestion of how you would say PANTHER in Boontling? Best I can come up with is “Huge Tomker” which would literally translate to “Big Tomcat.” Any other ideas?
MR. T, not-so-incidentally, is reviving Friday night football with an 8-man Boonville High School team to play under the lights. All games at the Fairgrounds kick off at 6pm. The season begins on Friday, October 8th vs South Fork. A graduate of AVHS in the days that Anderson Valley was a widely feared sports power on the Northcoast, Toohey went on to play college ball.
ADRIAN MALDONADO, having compiled an enviable winning record over the years, is back as high school soccer coach. Futbol matches start at 4:30 on Tom Smith Field at the high school. First match is at home versus Calistoga.
KENDRA McEWEN is coaching the always strong AVHS volleyball team. The squad that knocked off the much larger school Ukiah last year has returned for Coach McEwen to lead to another banner year for Boonville volleyball. The girls take on Middletown on Wednesday, August 25th in the Boonville gym, 6pm.
THE HIGH SCHOOL is looking for people to voluntarily drive our various teams to their away games. Perfect opportunity to see areas of the Northcoast you might not see otherwise, and also an opp to meet pleasant young people you wouldn’t meet otherwise. If interested please visit or call the district office at 895-3774.
I HOPE Wanda Johnson, Kim Campbell and Kelly Hiatt got something in the way of a proper acknowledgement for their many years of work in the Anderson Valley schools because all three deserve at least a standing O for jobs well done.
SUPERINTENDENT OF COUNTY SCHOOLS, Michele Hutchins, called today to alert us to the Governor's clarifying statement re school vaxx policy. Before today, policy had been guided by local direction from the Mendo covid guy, Dr. Coren:
SACRAMENTO: In order to best protect students and staff as California starts the school year fully in-person, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) today issued a new public health order requiring all school staff to either show proof of full vaccination or be tested at least once per week.
“To give parents confidence that their children are safe as schools return to full, in-person learning, we are urging all school staff to get vaccinated. Vaccinations are how we will end this pandemic,” said Governor Newsom. “As a father, I look forward to the start of the school year and seeing all California kids back in the classroom.”
The new policy for school staff will take effect August 12, 2021, and schools must be in full compliance by October 15, 2021. Robust and free testing resources are available to K-12 schools through the CA K-12 schools testing program.
A READER asked, “Who used to run the Boonville Dump before order was restored in the form of the transfer station there now?” Nobody ran it. You just threw whatever over the side, and it was always burning, not flaming but smoking with an occasional flame visible. Attracted bears, too, one of which moved into a nearby carport and had to be shot. The end of the toss-it-all-over-the-side dump came when an elderly woman tumbled over the side and on into the smoldering pit one afternoon, and when her elderly companion tried to rescue her friend she, too, couldn’t escape the bubbling, toxic stew. Both wound up in the hospital. That macabre event was it for that incarnation of the Boonville Dump. Then came the transfer station with a series of attendants, including the late Donna Ronne, former Playboy centerfold, always with a fresh joke (in both senses). There was also a toss-it-over-the-side dump at Navarro, the deepend free for all also closed at the same time as Boonville but closed completely with no transfer station replacing it.
SHERIFF MATT KENDALL not only has been spotted pulling over speeding vehicles himself in Anderson Valley, just yesterday (Friday), detective Luis Espinoza was silently applauded by passersby when he chased down a BMW hurtling at unsafe speeds on the Ukiah-Boonville Road.
HOMES NEEDED: We are in need of a few more foster families for kittens & cats here in the valley. You may have seen our kittens at the AV Farm Supply! We have a small rescue & our nonprofit status still in the works. All age ranges of kittens, adult cats and all different levels of socialization, just let us know what you’re comfortable with. Some kittens just need a temporary stay and some need lots of care. Spare bathroom, bedroom or even an xl dog crate will do. Give love and attention to felines in need! Medical care is all taken care of. Message me or come into the farm supply!
GOWANS APPLE FARM IN PHILO is hosting a one-of-a-kind cider & music festival experience! What better place to drink cider than under the very trees that grew the apples! Celebrate Gowan's 145th Gravenstein Apple Harvestat this one of a kind Festival in the Orchard. Nestled at the heart of Anderson valley, with a backdrop of redwood forests and oak-studded hillsides. See you at Gowan’s Cider Orchard! Check out the Live Music Lineup here! Saturday August 21 11:00-7:00 Sunday August 22 11:00-5:00
ANDREW VAUGHN, upcoming star of the Chicago White Sox emerging here from the cornfield onto the Fields Of Dreams last night, is the grandson of Ronnie Vaughn and Doris Tuttle Vaughn, and were lifelong friends of mine and everybody else's in our Anderson Valley, hometown before their sad passing in 2019.
Ronnie was a great all-around athlete who could throw a football about 60 yards downfield, and did on a regular basis. Doris' mom, Beth Tuttle, was my and scores of others' first grade teacher. In high school in Santa Rosa, CA, Andrew finished with a .389 batting average and also went 17-6 and a 2.05 ERA as a pitcher. Andrew was the Pac-12 Freshman Player of the Year at Cal in 2017, Pac-12 Player of the Year, Golden Spikes Award as the top collegiate player in the country, and Rawlings National Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2018. We all asked ourselves, well, who's going to grab him in the 2019 draft? (White Sox, as the third overall pick.) And here he is on the biggest stage in baseball at first base, outfield and DH. Not bad for a kid with some family roots in a little ranching and logging community on the California North Coast.
(Norm Clow)
BOONVILLE? Marshall Newman wonders:
Supposed postcard from Boonville, CA postmarked 1923 (or maybe 1925). WHERE in Boonville? I am not nearly as old as this postcard, but I don't think I have seen any spot in Boonville that looked remotely like this photograph.
ANDERSON VALLEY, EYES ONLY. The June Ranch has sold for $4,745,250 before sale expenses. The buyer is a Healdsburg couple, Roger and Michelle Burch, who are primarily in the timber business. The Burch’s own many properties on the Northcoast. One of Burch's spin off companies is Gualala Redwood Timber. There has been a court case going on for at least five years over the Dogwood THP near Gualala. The ICO reports that Dogwood will be logged this week. Friends of Gualala River is opposing the project.
A VALLEY old timer puts it this way:
“Hopefully, the property will be respected and valued by the new owners for its beauty and extensive local history. Time will tell… I thought the Indians would save some of the place from total destruction because it has a huge historic reverence for the tribes that once lived in Boonville (Lemkolil) for thousands of years. The site is registered with the state — Confidential File Santa Rosa CDF and Native American Heritage Commission and local tribal governments all retain copy stating historic sensitivity."
Buyer: represented by: Jason M Nadeau Mendo Sotheby's International Realty
Seller: represented by Realtor.com
Size: 827.39 acres
Address: 12950 Ornbaun Road Boonville
Information from: Zillow and appraisal report dated September 26, 2002
Janese June (Jack June's wife), 1/3 partnership owner
Tamar June (Eric June's wife), 1/3 partnership owner
April June-Bento, (Delmar June's daughter)) 1/6 partnership owner
Victoria Ornbaun-Center, 1/6 partnership owner via deed from Delmar June
Description on Zillow: Property Overview - Steeped in history, the ownership of the June Ranch dates back to the late 1800's. Situated just outside of the town of Boonville, in the heart of the Anderson Valley and totals 827 acres. Multiple springs, creeks and river tributaries found on the ranch provide plentiful water throughout. June Ranch's oak-studded foothills run adjacent to some of California's most productive viticultural properties. The vast timber reserves further up in the hills, comprised mostly of Redwood, Douglas Fir, Madrone and Oak, are truly the ranch's most important asset with the large, towering groves of mature Redwoods its most visible and dramatic landmark. The well maintained road system will carry you through every part of the ranch. Current ownership is proud of its long history of well-managed and sensitive timber harvests. With the mixed zoning present on this ranch (forestland, agriculture and residential) the possibilities for a new owner are limitless.
LOCAL GUY JEFF BURROUGHS with a sign-of-the-times story: “Interesting day at Harbour freight on Saturday. I had just finished buying something and asked the manager if she could check her inventory for another item, so while waiting I noticed this guy coming toward the front of the store pushing a shopping cart filled with power tools. One look at this guy and I was pretty sure something was up, so I did a little side shuffle and blocked the exit door, his escape route. He was about to head my way when I guess he decided my 290 lb frame was more than he wanted to try to push that cart through, so he reluctantly turned and stopped his cart in front of the cashier. Some fumbling and mumbling later he glared over his shoulder at me as he pretended to find his wallet. The manager came out from the store room to tell me they were out of stock for the tool I wanted and as I turned to leave I motioned with my head to watch that guy but the manager didn't see me. As I was halfway to my truck sure enough here he came running out of the store with a full cart of tools at full speed. At the end of the parking lot lay his accomplices in a little dirty black car. One was another guy who except for darker hair looked just like the idiot who robbed the store. Behind the wheel sat a thin blond girl holding a little dog in her left arm and the steering wheel in the other. The two boys commenced to quickly throw the tools into the back seat all the while smashing the reclining seat into the back of blonde girl and her little dog. By now the manager had made her way outside and was taking pictures of the car. By now I had gotten into my truck and slowly began edging towards the car. The 3 idiots were so busy screaming at each other that they hadn't noticed that my truck was right in front of their car, our front bumpers were actually touching. The 2 guys jumped in the back seat and that’s when blonde saw me screamed, jammed it into reverse, got hung up on the curb then spun out into traffic, a dish rag hanging from their license plate fell off.”
It seems that the bouncing over the curb had exposed the getaway car’s license plate long enough for the store manager to take a photo of it but I was not aware of that at the time so I commenced following the vehicle onto north bound highway 101 then reported which way they went to a less than energetic reporting officer. According to a few people I have talked with who are in the retail business this kind if thing is happening more and more and the current procedure for employees on how to deal with this is not to engage the thieves outside of the store and local law enforcement knows that little will be done to the thieves when they are caught. Apparently losses of less than $2,000 are considered petty theft which carries little weight in prosecuting and sentencing. So the whole idea of my efforts making any kind of difference in the world is just a pipe dream.
Just an FYI – Wanda, Kim and Kelley were honored with a very nice party and all were given a retirement gift.
A hint regarding the postcard photo: It has been colored. It is by a river, that could have been dammed. Putting in Summer dams was commonly done back then. The grass is grazed, and it is late Spring. The road is assumed to be a public road, and the placement of roads changes over time. But the road could also be a primary ranch access road.