FUNDRAISER FOR ANA CARRILLO
LAST SATURDAY, April 22th, a well-attended fundraiser was held at the Philo Grange for local mother and grandmother Ana María Carrillo who was recently diagnosed with stage 4 terminal uterine cancer. Thank you to everyone who donated the food, beverages, their time and money we greatly appreciate it.
THE BOONTLING CLASSIC IS BACK! North Coast Striders is pleased to announce that the 38th Annual Boontling Classic 5K footrace will be held on Sunday, May 7th, 2023 at 10:00 am at the Anderson Valley Elementary school in Boonville, California. Runners and walkers of all ages are welcome.
Ribbons will be given to the top three placers in each of the ten age divisions, as well as plaques for first man/woman/non-binary. A post-race drawing will be held with prizes generously donated by local Anderson Valley businesses. All proceeds will go to the Anderson Valley Food Bank in Boonville, CA.
Fee:
$15.00 Adults (18+)
$5.00 Youth (6-17)
$30.00 Family
Kids under 6 years of age can race for free.
Locally printed t-shirts are an additional $10.00/person and are in limited supply
Online registration will be open until the race starts. In person registration will be available on the day of the race only, starting at 8:30 am.
For more information, contact race directors Zane Colfax or Angie Setzer at zane.colfax@gmail.com or via phone or text at 334-233-9607.
Race Contact Info: If you have any questions about this race, please contact the race director at zane.colfax@gmail.com
NOTE: The Colfax brothers organized the very first Boont Classic. Zane Colfax is a son of Drew Colfax, as the popular footrace begins under the second generation of Colfaxes. It would be a hoot for all of us who participated in the inaugural event to see its results, but as I dimly and perhaps incorrectly recall, Reed Colfax placed first in his high school age group and the inevitable Jim Gibbons probably took the overall first place, both of them covering the distance under twenty minutes.
FIRST FRIDAY & MUSIC BOOK SALE
On May 5, the Mendocino Coast Jazz Society presents Music First Friday & Music Book Sale. 17 musicians in various stores and locations in Fort Bragg celebrate the opening sale of donated music books from the Hans Bruhner and Anne Brunher collection. The book sale proceeds, in four locations, will benefit music scholarship and educational programs.
(Katy Tahja)
THE BRUHNERS OF DOCKER HILL
The story behind bookcases of jazz books in local bookstores in Fort Bragg starts with a love story and ends with a loving tribute, and music and books on May 5th all over downtown Fort Bragg for First Friday Art Walk.
In 1962 Anne Crosby was a young bilingual teacher enjoying her job at the American school in Bogota, Colombia. There she met Hans Bruhner, a European publishing house representative from Stockholm Sweden. It was love at first sight.
The Bruhners lived in Europe before settling in the USA. Hans had many diverse “loves” in his life. First and foremost was family but he had an artistic athletically musical soul. One love was running. He had been an alternate for the Swedish track and field team in the Oslo Olympics and he ran for exercise the rest of his life. Another love was photography and the interplay of color and shadow. But his true love was jazz music.
As a teenager in Stockholm he hung around Embassy Row and the US consulate to meet young American diplomats and hang out with them and learn more about American jazz music. He collected jazz in every way, shape and form, from reel-to-reel tapes, to vinyl records to cassettes and CDs. And don't forget books. He REALLY liked to read about jazz.
Working for Esso Petroleum in Europe in later years, Hans used early computer techenology to perfect the concept of a credit card you could use in a gas station. His in-depth knowledge of this emerging technology got him a job with Chevron Oil and the family moved to California and settled in the Bay Area.
Hans, Anne, daughter Karin and son Hans Jr. liked to camp out and travel the north coast. Happenstance led them to an acquaintance with Peter Allegart, a fine landscape artist in Elk. Enjoying sculpture, Hans started creating what today might be called folk art. With his photographs he created frames for his photos with bits and pieces of artistic materials.
By 1990 the Bruhners were thinking of retirement and they discovered a spot on Docker Hill in Comptche for a new home and a wealth of creative artistic neighbors. Anne finished her teaching career in special education at Fort Bragg Middle School and Hans discovered the Mendocino Coast Jazz Society and the Bruhners hosted many musical gatherings at their ridge top home.
Age catches up with everybody and Hans passed away in 2022 after 60 years with the love of his life, Anne. He left behind a wealth of music and books about the other love of his life: jazz. In a loving tribute Anne works with the jazz society to sell their jazz collection to benefit the group’s scholarship fund. They have already been selling recorded music at gatherings at the Company Store in Fort Bragg and now they have something new!
Today you can go to the Bookstore on Laurel Street or Windsong Books on Main Street in Fort Bragg and buy books provided by the Bruhner family. A portion of the proceeds go for the scholarship fund of the Mendocino Coast Jazz Society. Visit both stores! They are only a block apart. Your purchases will help send a local music student to college.
BY GOLLY you can find the monastery at the west end of Ray’s Road, Philo!
The Eros Monastery is a place that brings you back to yourself.
Join us at The Land, a 162 acre retreat center in Northern California located amidst the redwoods.
Including daily practices like yoga and meditation, farm-to-table meals, and working in nature like tending to the garden.
Each stay is a study in the art of intimacy with life itself.
We call this intimacy with life “Eros”.
Our state of the art facility plays host to regular curated salons from thought leaders, writers, and people who are changing the world for the better.
Find out for yourself what’s available.
BREWFEST SATURDAY
Anderson Valley Brewing Company's 2023 Legendary Boonville Beer Festival To Be Held on Saturday, April 29 at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds
Anderson Valley Brewing Company (AVBC) will be hosting its annual Boonville Beer Festival on Saturday, April 29 at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds. Now in its 25th year, this legendary Northern California craft beer event has donated over $1.7 million to local charities.
Featuring more than 80 breweries, two live music stages, and a stellar lineup of local food vendors, the Boonville Beer Festival gates and taps will open at 1:00 pm and close at 5:00 pm.
Tickets for this year's event cost $55/person if purchased before April 29 and $65/person if purchased the day of (April 29). Designated driver tickets are $5/person. Tickets are only available for purchase online. This is a 21 and over event including designated drivers.
Saved by the Beer! Throwing it back to the 90s, this year's Boonville Beer Festival theme celebrates a decade that smelled like Teen Spirit and tasted like Hot Pockets. Guests are encouraged to break out their best 90s threads and head to the Mendocino Redwoods to enjoy a full day of live music, local eats, and the state's top craft beers.
THE COUNTY OF MENDOCINO has suddenly imposed impossible financial conditions on the Anderson Valley Senior Center, which just scrapes by as it is in providing its crucial services to Anderson Valley's senior citizens. The Senior Center would henceforth be required to pay a rent of $250 a month, which it does not have and, even more onerously, the county would require the SC to pay the county's maintenance staff at a rate the county does not pay them. Taken together, these requirements would put the Senior Center out of business, and put five people out of work.
ONE WAY to perhaps get permanently around the county, would be for our CSD to take over the premises and continue the SC as is, un-roiled by county edicts. Our CSD already has responsibility for the Little Red School House Museum property.
I ASKED 5th District supervisor, Ted Williams for his opinion of the County edict that the AV Senior Center would now have to somehow pay for County maintenance services via an onerous new lease has alarmed many of us. Our Center has thrived for years in the Boonville Vet's Building, which is owned by the County.
WILLIAMS: “Of course I don’t want to see Senior Center out of business. It appears the county’s method of operations included not maintaining many of its 75 structures. Public safety and roads will cost more in the years to come and revenue is flat or declining. Any thoughts on an entity to assume ownership?”
I ONLY could think one thought, which is that the Anderson Valley CSD buy the Vet's Building and lease it back to the Senior Center for a token one dollar, much as our CSD has assumed owner responsibility for the Little Red School House and premises.
WILLIAMS: “I could get behind that.”
TUESDAY MORNING'S CHRONICLE ran a series of stories along the familiar journalo-lines of Anderson Valley being the “unspoiled Napa Valley,” in which our very own Val Hanelt, alone among the usual local wine and tour promoters, appeared thusly:
Change is hard to come by without local government. Boonville is one of the last unincorporated towns in California. There’s no mayor; no city council; no police department.
It’s difficult for locals to lobby for improvements, and the job typically falls on passionate retirees, like Valerie Hanelt, a director of the Anderson Valley Community Services District.
Hanelt has spent the past eight years leading an effort to get Boonville clean drinking water and a new sewer system funded by the California government. The initial well tests “came back pretty grim” with “significant contamination issues,” she said. “There were very few parcels that had wells not affected by E. coli and nitrates.”
Boonville’s socioeconomic status falls well below the California average; according to U.S. Census data, Boonville’s household income is $45,000 compared to $85,000 across the state. Less than 30% of the population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher. Due to this low socioeconomic status, the government has agreed to fund 100% of the infrastructure — committing $36 million — although completion of the project is still two to three years out.
Even then, Hanelt said there won’t be much room for Boonville to boom. The systems will mostly be maxed out with the existing properties; this means growth is limited to filling in the empty storefronts and building accessory dwelling units (ADUs) for much-needed housing. Most of the town’s undeveloped land is zoned for agriculture, she said, not commercial development.
THE REAL SARAHS
In a much-anticipated return engagement, the popular local ensemble of The Real Sarahs will perform at the Willits Community Theatre on Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m.
Sarah “Songbird” Larkin and Sarah Ryan are joined by bassist Jen Rund in bringing their organic sound that enchants and uplifts the spirit, and sharing in their special gift of vocal synergy.
Rising stars in the West Coast Americana scene since they joined together in 2010, The Real Sarahs have distinguished themselves as skillful harmony singers and evocative songwriters. The duo creates magic with voices in harmony, acoustic instruments, and the energetic connection between artists and audience. Embracing many genres of music from folk to jazz, blues and bluegrass, and country, they sing from the stories of their own journeys and life experiences. Their original music is honest, captivating and heartfelt.
The Real Sarahs have released recorded works representing the broad musical influences and potential that the duo embodies. The 2017 release “Afternoon With the Dirty Birds” has the support of full instrumentation and showcases their songs with a big, “full band” sound. Their 2018 release “Headed For The Hills” sinks back to their roots as acoustic musicians.
With warmth and humor at the center of their performances, The Real Sarahs offer themselves as women of song with the gift of music given them. Tickets are $20 and available online at: www.wctperformingartscenter.org and at the door.
ON A NEARLY perfect Spring day, the winds off the Sunday Pacific that dependably cool the Anderson Valley carry a nip of the chill with them, but the sun's bright and the hills are green, and what else is there to do but put the world's splendor on hold and retreat to the cave-like gloom of the Boonville weekly's editorial offices where the television set has place of honor. Spring can wait, the Warriors were playing the Kings in the NBA playoffs, and what a game it was, with the Warriors triumphant at the wire.
A GOOD IDEA FROM MISSISSIPPI
All school cafeterias should do this!
“Students who buy lunches may place unwanted and unopened food on an ice tray. If other students are still hungry after they finish their own lunches, they may choose one item from the share bin. This simple process reduces waste and makes tummies full.”— Grindstone Elementary
MY COLLEAGUE, The Major, didn't react well to the news that it took him four months to get an appointment to see a heart doc at the Adventists Complex while “that homeless mooch, Craig Stehr, gets admitted instantly.” It belatedly occurred to The Maj to turn himself over to the VA for medical relief. Never heard a complaint about the VA Clinic in Ukiah, or the VA Hospital in San Francisco, where the quality of care has always been excellente.
ADD TO the endless list of things I didn't know, curb service at Ukiah WalMart and Ukiah Safeway, confirmed by a Facebook friend: “So you guys, you can get the app and do all the shopping from your home, pay for it and set up a pick up time. They bring it right out to your car and load it up. I haven’t had to shop inside with the peasants in months. You can do it at Safeway too. Highly recommend.”
ATTENTION BASEBALL FANS! If you happen to be in Marin or nearby, the college games at the College of Marin stadium in Kentfield are highly recommended. The stadium, and it is a small stadium, is beautiful, as spacious and as comfortable as a well-tended minor league ballpark, and the baseball is pretty good, too. I saw the Mariners, as the home team is called, take on the visiting Mendocino College Eagles, who also have a nice little ballpark on their Ukiah campus. The event was casually hosted. A handcrafted sign at the entrance gate said admission was five dollars, but there was no one to collect it, although a stack of effectively rendered programs was available for the taking. Walking on, I saw a food table with an array of snacks that included “sliders,”' a delicacy new to me but defined by my brother in law as “mini-hamburgers.” The free lunch table was also unattended. Passersby helped themselves.
THE MARINER'S BASEBALL FIELD is part of an athletic complex of playing fields; there were a soccer game, a girl's lacrosse contest and volleyball matches also underway. A young woman sang a credible National Anthem, the tattooed home plate umpire, who looked kinda elderly to be all tatted up, yelled, “Play ball” and off we went. (Tat man was very good on balls and strikes. The other ump was also competent, and there were a bunch of really good defensive plays by both teams, with Marin's pitchers shutting out the Mendo boys, 6-0.
THE PA system blasted out, and I mean blasted out, brief cannonades of “music” before each batter, every blast constituting a mercifully short aural assault on the couple of hundred spectators. In another time and far away, I played a lot of baseball, winding up my ball-playing days at Cal Poly SLO with a mediocre record as a disinterested pitcher/outfielder. I was, by then, heavily into the books and had lost interest in sports, but baseball got me a meal ticket and a free room for two years, and that was all I needed then and now.
HAPPY SPRING! If you’re not sure what to do with your landscape or garden I offer consultation and coaching including: garden and irrigation system designs, materials lists and acquisition. Also, maintenance plans and coaching including plant care, soil care, and pruning lessons. I can also supervise plant and irrigation system installation. Please call Victoria at Victoria Gardens 415-246-4491 and happy gardening!
Victoria Allen <iambreath2358@gmail.com>
Be First to Comment