Valley People

EARTHQUAKE TREMOR this morning, Tuesday the 13th, rolled Boonville at 5:40am the US Geological Survey said the jolt measured 3.4 on the Richter Scale and was centered about nine miles southeast of Ukiah and nine miles west of Lakeport, putting it in the general area of Cow Mountain.

ENJOYED THE FIRST of many meals at Anele's Restaurant downtown Boonville next door to the Boonville Saloon. Anele serves a basic menu of Mexican food with to-go items handy on display in a cooler at the counter. We were welcomed by Anele herself, who is the very definition of charming as everyone knows who encountered her just next door at Anderson Valley Market where Anele was employed for three years. She's made a world of friends here since moving to The Valley from Los Angeles three years ago. The meal was surpassingly tasty, made from fresh, homemade ingredients and surprisingly inexpensive. Anele told us she would soon offer pizza, too, a shared venture with ace pizza maker Keith Martin, her colleague from AV Market.

WE WERE STARTLED to receive this e-mail Tuesday morning from “Val Muchowski”: “I really hope you get this fast. I could not inform anyone about our trip, because it was impromptu. we had to be in Manila Philippines for a program. The program was successful, but our journey has turned sour. we misplaced our wallet and cell phone on our way back to the hotel we lodge in after we went for sight seeing. The wallet contained all the valuables we had. Now, our passport is in custody of the hotel management pending when we make payment. I am sorry if i am inconveniencing you, but i have only very few people to run to now. i will be indeed very grateful if i can get a loan of $1,850 from you. this will enable me sort our hotel bills and get my sorry self back home. I will really appreciate whatever you can afford in assisting me with. I promise to refund it in full as soon as I return. let me know if you can be of any assistance. Please, let me know soonest. Thanks so much.”

OF COURSE the message wasn't from Val Muchowski who, I confirmed later that morning with Val's husband Steve, that Val is at home in Philo. “The last time this happened,” Steve said, “they placed Val in London.” So, if you're one of Val's many friends, and you've already sent the money west of the sun, east of the moon, you're out $1,850.

GRANGE GROOVE! Bruce Hering, Anderson Valley's senior groove-o, reminds us that DJ Jeanine will be providing the groove at the Grange this Friday night beginning at 7:30. All ages welcome, donations accepted.

DEEPENDERS were alarmed last Friday at the smoke rising from brush burns on nearby Mendocino Redwood Company land, alarmed that the burn piles included hacked and squirted hardwoods chemically felled by MRC. But John Ramaley reassured callers that MRC was not burning hack-and-squirt trees, only slash from logging prior to the company's herbicide applications.

ADIABETIC KIT and purse was lost or misplaced near the intersection of AV Way and Highway 129 Monday or Tuesday. If found, please call Kim at 671-5831. It’s important to her.

THE GOVERNOR announced Tuesday that Marine Corps Major General, ret., Anthony L. Jackson has been appointed director of the state's Parks and Rec Department. Do we salute or go blind? as we used to say in the Corps. A Marine Corp general may be just what that department needs after years of loafers and incompetents in its top slots. One of Jackson's medals is for his tour as a drill instructor, meaning that this guy is a relentless, unforgiving son of an M-16. The State Parks bureaucrats are in for a shock. Tennn-shun!

A DRUG GUY called Monday to say that he couldn't find a turkey bag anywhere in Ukiah. He was told at Friedman's that they'd sold all 10,000 of their recent consignment which, at a pound of dope per bag at $2000 a pound, say, is serious money flying outtahere from that one store alone. Seal-A-Meals were also going fast, our informant said.

THE NEWS that two elderly women confined to a rest home in Loomis, Placer County, have died from poison mushrooms contained in a soup innocently prepared for them by the rest home's cook, inspired an apprehensive tremor here in Mendocino County where mushrooming is a recreation enjoyed by many. Over the years, and without mentioning names here, I've been offered mushrooms “straight from the woods.” Not me. No way am I eating a mushroom that isn't shrink-wrapped and sold at Safeway.

BUT CRAB SEASON'S another matter, and it's just begun. Look for this sea delicacy at Lemons any day now, fresh from the Pacific by Tom Sr. and Jr.

THE ANDERSON VALLEY LAND TRUST and the Navarro River Resource Center invite you on an afternoon hike, December 1st into Ray Gulch located in the Lower Navarro River Basin. Ray Gulch offers a wonderful opportunity to observe important and extremely valuable off-channel habitat for threatened steelhead and endangered coho salmon in the Navarro River watershed. Backwater off-channel habitats like Ray Gulch offer a place for the steelhead and coho salmon to take refuge from the high winter flows on the Navarro River System and are known as winter refugia areas. Ray Gulch is unique in its size and quality of potential winter refugia habitat, where the salmonids can spend time in calmer water out of the high, flashy flows known in the Navarro River and where the food and habitat are abundant. They can put on a little weight and size before heading out to the estuary on their way to the ocean in the early and late spring before the river flows diminish again. Kirk Vodopals, hydrologist from MRC, will join us for the walk, along with local bird enthusiast Bill Sterling to help us identify birds we may see in this rich and unique aquatic habitat. Contact the Anderson Valley Land Trust at avlt@mcn.org or 895-3150 or the Navarro River Resource Center at rivercenter@mcn.org or 895-3230 to register and for more information. The hike will be about two miles on a relatively flat road. No fee. Space is limited. Rain will postpone the event until January or February.

IF YOU CALL Trish Beverley or Bruce Patterson at 895-9306 they'll give you, absolutely free, a half-cord of green firewood. You pick it up, of course.

MALCOLM MACDONALD rightly fulminates this week about Mendocino, as in Don't Call It Mendocino Village. I've slipped into that unforgivably bad habit myself, and I hereby promise, Malcolm, not to become a repeat offender.

I SEE BEAUTY IN THIS LIFE is the name of the photo exhibit curated by Lisa Hamilton currently on display at the California Historical Society on Mission Street near Third in San Francisco. The pictures aren't all Lisa's work. They go back into 19th century Humboldt County and include this contemporary portrait from the Boonville Fair. Fascinating stuff. If you've never visited the Society's headquarters, you're in for a treat. And it's handy to public transportation, a lot of fancy schmancy hotels and several other museums, including the highly irritating SF MOMA.

INTERESTING PIECE in Sunday's Ukiah Daily Journal on Marion Ornbaun, a late arriving but first generation pioneer Anderson Valley rancher and Civil War veteran who fought with Union forces in several major battles. Ornbaun settled on property next to his brother, John, who arrived in the Ornbaun Valley near Yorkville in 1852. Both men were from Crawfordsville, Indiana. Marion lived to be 102 and is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery, Boonville.

SERGEANT BARNEY, coordinator of the MCSO Office of Emergency Services (OES), will be in Point Arena and Anderson Valley and for community meetings to discuss the county wide Large Animal Evacuation Plan. The meetings will be in Point Arena at the Coast Community Branch Library on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 6:00 and in Boonville on Monday, November 19, 2012 at 6:00 in the Anderson Valley Health Center. Owners of field animals — horses, sheep, cows and goats — whether on a cattle ranch or a small one acre spread, are encouraged to attend. “We’ll be discussing what is being done to prepare and recover from emergencies requiring large animal evacuations. What emergency resources are available on ranches and in the community? What are needed?” according to Martin Bradley, project coordinator. The meetings are one of seven in the county. The Office of Emergency Services and County of Mendocino Animal Care Services are also preparing a resource guide of individuals and organizations for the OES who can be identified in each of six county regions during periods of isolation in a disaster. “In Round Valley, during the August North Pass Fires, there was one go-to person for large animal care. The rodeo grounds were prepared with hay and other supplies. That type of advanced planning is needed since there are areas of counties that may be shut off from outside help for a week more because of geographical barriers.” Bradley said. Bradley can be reached at 489-4607 or Bradleym@pacific.net.

THIS COMMUNICATION from Boonville High School: “Survey for Parents on Open or Closed Campus During Lunch “Students have been asking that we re-open the campus during lunch and allow them to go uptown. We have asked faculty for their opinions, but we want parent opinion as well! It's not a vote, but we very much want to know what you think as we consider all the options.”

FIVE GRAMMATICAL ERRORS and a passo-aggresso exclamation point, the whole inspiring the usual zero confidence. It's probably easier to let “the kids” roam Boonville at the lunch break rather than ride herd on campus, hence the “survey” which, of course, will largely be ignored by parents, the preponderance of whom are non-English speaking.

ONE PARENT who didn't ignore the communique wrote: “Ha! I had a similar reaction to that exclamation point along with the false excitement/enthusiasm that goes with it. It reminds me of the corporate “happy voice” that we hear everywhere nowadays, which drives me to distraction. The other thing that struck me about this note was the complete lack of leadership on the topic. At the very least, some pros and cons could have been mentioned, and, at best, the note could have read more like this: “Students have been asking that we re-open the campus during lunch. We said no.” At that point, you realize there's no need for a note at all. Put that time and money to some better use. But that would take some leadership. The pool of grownups in the world seems to be getting smaller by the day.”

KEEP THE FAIRGROUNDS OPEN! Laura Baynham writes: “Yes it is true! Our Fairgrounds are at risk of closing. Locked gates, no access to the baseball field and football field. Buildings deteriorating and NO FAIR! Who is going to pay for and maintain the emergency fire water tank? It is inevitable, unless there is a new way of doing business. The Fair has had no state funding for two years and is running on reserves, which are being depleted. Come to the annual members meeting of the Fair Association and become a member. Yes it is a little known fact that the Mendocino Fair Grounds is operated by a 501c3, the Anderson Valley Apple Show. Membership is limited to residents who reside within the school district boundaries of Anderson Valley and Cloverdale. It has a Board of six members, elected by the membership at the annual meeting. To be a voting member you have to have been a member for two (?) years. BUT members and energy and creative thinking are needed NOW! The way to be a member is to 1) come to the annual membership meeting this coming Monday evening November 12, at 7PM at the Fairgrounds dining room. It is a potluck, your willingness to participate is more important than the food, but if you would like to bring something, salad is always welcome. 2) if you can't make the meeting, stop by the Fairgrounds office and ask to sign the “book.” Yes there is a membership book that has signatures back to the … maybe the 30s, be careful the pages are frail. It is a rite of passage into the culture of Anderson Valley to sign the book, kind of like dodging the swinging dead chicken as you enter into the Grange membership. The usual agenda for the Annual Members meeting is a budget report, a fair report, election of two board positions. But come and ask questions, get an idea of what is happening. Current projects that need energy are looking for some help to use the grant search database that the fair bought a subscription to for locating grants that support both capital and operational projects at the Fair. There might be some great agricultural/food/event/education grants out there. Yes, we have always thought that the Fair and the grounds/buildings would always be a part of our community, but if we grind down to $0 in reserve, it will be very hard to get it open again. See you there! Laura Baynham, 972-2326 if you have questions, or 895-3249 at the house. The meeting is this Monday evening at 7pm in the Dining Hall at the Fairgrounds.

THE MEETING came and went Monday evening. Tuesday morning I called Fair Manager Jim Brown to ask him how it went.

FRED MARTIN'S high school physics project, Fred writes, could use a couple of antennas: “A number of people have been generous and provided me with two DIRECT TV satellite dish/antennas. For this HS project I could use two more satellite antennas. Those that work best are the DIRECT TV dishes; they must include the HORN and box with the cable connectors or cutoff cables. Contact Fred Martin at 895 2607 or e-mail me at fsmartin@pacific.net. Thank you.”