SO FAR, no one seems to know, but unless AV Unified is somehow more savvy than Willits Unified, which I doubt, we've probably been big time scammed on the bond deal we floated to get the money for rehab of our aging school structures. Stay tuned. My colleague, The Major, who happens to be a guy with formidable math skills, sits on the construction oversight board, and too bad he didn't look at the numbers before.
WOW! Boonville at night this time of year is absolutely scintillating, with the downtown festooned from one end to the other in Christmas lights. It's also good to see the big tree at the Boonville Hotel strung with happy bulbs, anchoring the town, centering it, community-priding this thriving little place. Added daylight holiday bonus is the display window at Rossi Hardware, as nicely rendered a window as you'll see.
GARETH BIRCH of Gareth's Automotive and a long-time resident of Yorkville, has announced he is retiring from the repair business. As one of many Mendo people who dragged a failing vehicle to Gareth's shop on South State, Ukiah, I will miss him at his old stand. A charming man who never seemed to charge enough for his long hours of hard labor, Gareth extended the mortality of many of our cars long past their assumed expiration dates. If ever a man deserved a comfortable retirement, it's Mr. Birch.
NICE PIECE in Sunday's Sacramento Bee by Sam McManis on the Anderson Valley Brewing Company, which begins, “Enough with those effete, raised-pinky wine-tasting tours. Gimme some brew, will ya? With a little attitude and a stout character or two as something of a chaser. Even here in the Anderson Valley, in Mendocino's less-fashionable interior, there are no less than 43 wineries and vineyards stitched into the rolling hills of tawny oaks. Soon, it seems, the proliferation of Northern California wineries will outnumber even Starbucks franchises.”
SAM'S STORY describes the always lively Jessica Nau and ground floor Boonville beer guy Rod DeWitt. They showed Sam around.
BUT THE ANDERSON VALLEY is hardly the less than fashionable area of Mendocino County's interior, why it's the very cynosure of haute Mendo. We've got it all, from celebs to wine to Tuscany-quality vistas to Frisco-standard restaurants.
LITTLE KNOWN FACT. The late Boonville Postmistress, Peggy Bates, used to keep track of all the attention the Anderson Valley got from outside media, and it was considerable. And that was then, twenty years ago. And it kept on keeping on. Hardly a month goes by without the Anderson Valley being rediscovered.
OF COURSE some of attention wasn't what anyone would describe as welcome, and my idea for a kind of ghoul's tourism pegged to the former Valley homes of Charles Manson, Leonard Lake, Tree Frog Johnson, Jim Jones, Kenneth Parnell, and the Moonies has not been embraced.
STEVE SPARKS has semi-retired from the interview business. Getting people to do it became a painful process, especially painful when after hours of talk and transcription the subject backed out. I think, though, Steve would do one or so a month if he was spared the maddening pursuit part of the process. You want to do it? Call us or call Steve and by golly we'll make you a star! In your own words!
WHICH CASSIDY HOLLINGER seems to be on her way to becoming, a star. Now a senior at Vassar, the omni-talented Cassidy is the force driving the school's all-female comedy group, and Cassidy says she's headed for a PhD in performance studies. Not that anyone who knows the formidably bright Ms. Hollinger, but for a kid out of the boons she's already gone a long way.
FRATTY PIKE, 'wine walk' in Boontling, and you can enjoy one yourself this very weekend as Londer, Foursight, Zina Hyde Cunningham, and Philo Ridge, all with downtown Boonville tasting rooms, do their fratty walking, 11am to 4:30 pm.
THE AV Girl's Varsity, coached by Bryan Wyant, you will be pleased to learn, has defeated Redwood Adventist Academy, 54-29, with Juana Manriquez's 22 points and Grecia Herrera's 14 leading the scoring as Kaylie Mendoza, daughter of Chato Mendoza, also a relentless ballhawk in his days as a Panther hoopster, led the defense as she shut down the Adventist's top gun.
HOOPS! The Boonville boys hammered Redwood Adventist, got hammered by Mendocino in the Potter Valley tourney, got hammered again in Potter Valley, this time by Upper Lake, but hammered Lower Lake at Potter Valley. All-in-all a hammering good week with Carlos Espinoza looking terrific against Mendo. The Panthers travel south to enjoy the Geyserville Tourny.
THE CHP SAID Wednesday that the driver of the big rig that overturned on Highway 128 two Tuesdays ago, closing the road for several hours, was reportedly distracted prior to the collision “by items in the vehicle.” Ramon J. Severns, 37, of Santa Rosa, was driving a loaded moving truck when, at about 1:12pm, he lost control of the vehicle. It overturned, blocking both lanes of the road in the area of Meyers Cellars about seven miles southeast of Boonville. Neither Severns nor his passenger, a 50-year-old Lakeport woman not named in the accident report, nor listed as one of the distractions that caused Severns' attentions to wander, suffered minor injuries. Highway 128 was not reopened to through traffic until 6:20 p.m. Travelers were diverted through Ukiah and Hopland.
FRESH OFF the overturned big rig, Anderson Valley's emergency services people were called to assist in looking for a guy who got lost in his yard, so to speak. On the Monday afternoon before Severns got distracted and turned his truck over, a Mr. John Kraus was hiking on property near his home just south of Fish Rock Road when he became separated from his hiking companion. Kraus had been visiting and hiking on the same parcel for over 30 years but lost his bearings that Monday. Fire Chief Colin Wilson takes it from there: “When night fell, Mr. Kraus sheltered under a tree on a ridge and then wandered all day Tuesday before finally finding himself back at the same tree he had sheltered under the preceding night. The following morning he again attempted to find his way out, and in the early afternoon ran into a realtor who was driving on a private road in the Billings Creek drainage south of Fish Rock near it's midpoint between the Coast and the Valley. The realtor drove Mr. Kraus back to the parcel he came from and ran into the Incident Command Post we had set up to manage his incident after being contacted by Mr. Kraus's brother around 6:30 PM Monday evening that Mr. Kraus was missing. He was unhurt but suffering mild hypothermia. He was warmed and fed and returned home in the company of relatives who had come up to assist in the search. The Search and Rescue (SAR) response was initially provided by our Fire Department and on Tuesday Morning the Sheriff's SAR Team assumed control. Several neighbors also assisted in the search.”
THE MENDOCINO County Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Anderson Valley Fire Department, the Comptche Fire Department, the Pronsolino Family, and Larry Mailliard for their assistance with the Search efforts. Mr. Severns and Mr. Kraus will be billed for the cost of the Anderson Valley responses to both events.
A READER WRITES: “The Fort Bragg Advocate News' headline for a pubic, as opposed to public meeting was funny enough, but having Bruce Anderson run off with Trish to Prineville was good for a laugh too. Yes, I realize Anderson and Patterson sorta sound alike… and they are both crusty old farts… and both men and Trish will get a good laugh… but it proves there are still jobs for proofreaders!” (The item was supposed to say that Bruce Patterson and Trish Beverly, long-time Valley residents, had moved to Prineville, Oregon. Bruce Anderson remains in Boonville and San Francisco.
ACCORDING TO AN AGREEMENT between the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival and the Fairgrounds in Boonville, which is expected to be routinely approved by the Board of Supervisors, the Festival producers will pay $25,000 rent plus 5% of ticket sales over $500k plus a refundable $15,000 security deposit plus $19,000 for County-provided law enforcement services to the County plus $187 per booking after the first six. Which is a lot of pluses, but the event always sells out and apparently makes enough money to keep 'em coming back. According to the agreement, ticket sales are capped at 5,000. Set for June 21-23 of 2013 with pre-sale tickets going for $135 for the three-day event not counting camping, food, shuttle rides, mind altering botanicals, and assuming that the average three day ticket (or equivalent) will be around $150 by the time things are rounded out, we figure $750k in ticket sales with about $40,000 for the Fairgrounds.
NO DOUBT the World Music Festival will shell out massively for performers and other crucials, but this thing still has to be an annual gold mine for its producers. It's good for Boonville, too. But if it were a day longer…
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