Greetings one and all. if you are sitting comfortably then I shall begin. There are a number of things going on in the Valley in the next week or so and therefore I thought we should start with the P.S.A.’s. Glad you agree.
Public Service Announcements. Calendars and pens at the ready. #381. The next visit to the Valley by the vets from Mendocino Animal Hospital is tomorrow, Thursday, August 8. Unfortunately, due to staffing issues, this will be their only visit of the month but they will be back twice in September (12 and 19). #382. On Saturday morning, August 10 at the StudioSoBo, behind All That Good Stuff, there will be a Yoga Benefit with classes by Mary Paffard: 8:30-9:30 active asana, 9:30-10:30 gentle asana and 11:00-11:30 Meditation. From 11:30-12:30 Abeja will have a Primal Posture introduction. No need to register. Donations will go towards bolsters and chairs for the studio. Check it out and also the regularly scheduled classes at thestudiosobo.com. #383. The annual Yorkville Highlands Wine Festival takes place on Saturday, Aug 10 at Yorkville Cellars on Hwy 128 opposite the post office. The event, benefiting the Yorkville Volunteer Fire Department, runs from noon to 5pm and will feature bbq, music, silent auction, games, and the always popular grape-stomp. #384. Also on that very busy Saturday, August 10, it’s time again for the Annual Airport Day! This takes place at the Boonville Airport from noon onwards, with free plane rides over the Valley in the afternoon and a potluck dinner starting at 5pm. #385. The local food Pancake Breakfast returns to The Grange on Sunday August 11 from 8.30-11am. #386. The Mendocino Bookmobile is in town next Tuesday, August 13. They are in the Valley on alternate Tuesdays for 45 minutes at each of these places and times: Floodgate 12.30pm; Philo 1.30pm; Boonville 2.30pm. Next visit will be Tuesday, August 27. #387. In downtown Boonville, Aquarelle Restaurant and Wine Bar is now presenting Taco Tuesdays from 4-7pm as chef Christina serves up a variety of ‘some of the finest tacos north of Baja,’ #388. The much-anticipated August 17 gig by Patty Liddy at Lauren’s Restaurant has been postponed. This was part of Patty’s ‘Happy, Sad, Crazy, Tipsy Tour’ to benefit the Hendy Woods Community Group and it will now take place in September or October. I shall keep you informed.
Here’s the menu for the next week at the Senior Center. For lunches the Center asks for a $5 donation from Seniors and $7 for Non-Seniors; $6 and $8 respectively for the evening meals. Tomorrow, August 8, the lunch, served at 12.15pm, will be ‘Breakfast for Lunch’: breakfast strata, sausage, hash browns, spinach salad, and cinnamon roll cake for dessert. Next Tuesday evening, August 13, at 6pm, Chef Marti Titus and her crew serve a dinner featuring salisbury steak, noodles, zucchini, orange gelatin, quinoa salad, with strawberry chiffon dessert. a feast that will be followed by Bingo at 7pm. Hopefully you will be able to attend, and remember, ALL ages are welcome!.
Moving quickly on to a few of the topics and Valley events under discussion this week at The Three-Dot Lounge. Yes it’s “Moans, Groans, Good Thoughts, and Rampant (and often Reliable) Rumors” from my favorite gathering place in the Valley.
…A number of regulars were in attendance at The Grange on Friday evening for the northern California premier of ‘Goodbye World,’ the movie filmed in the Valley during the summer of 2012, the proceeds of which went to the AV Education Foundation. A crowd of perhaps 150, satiated by some excellent ‘small plate’ hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beer during the hour-and-a-half social beforehand, were very ready to applaud the sight of all things AV, from the spotting of a familiar building to the ‘actors’ from our community who either spoke or were spotted in the background of various scenes. A fun time was no doubt had by all. Local actors Robbie Penn-Depp and Daniel Day Langevin gave award-winning performances, while Andy DeNiro’s portrayal of a densely bearded oddball character hanging around in a threatening manner outside Lemons’ Market was very believable indeed. As for the film itself, director Denis Hennelly told me that he hopes for distribution in cinemas in early 2014 and that reviews have been mixed so far. I can see that. I thought some scenes worked well, others didn’t; some characters were well-defined and interesting, others clichéd and one-dimensional. Overall? I think Gene Siskel would have smiled and said ‘Thumbs up’ while Roger Ebert would have shook his head and said ‘Thumbs down.’ For an evening out in the Valley, it was certainly entertaining. The hospitality from the Education Foundation folks and their volunteer helpers was wonderful, the Valley looked almost as good on the screen as in real life, and now we’ll wait and see how the movie does out there in the ‘real world.’
…Congratulations on the 20th Anniversary of their lives and times in Anderson Valley to the Cheesecake Consortium. a unique group, many of whom I personally know to be very fine folks who have contributed significantly to their adopted community. Well done, one and all! Dick Browning, Sophie Otis, Dave and Helen Papke, Gaile Wakeman, Jill and Daniel Myers, Marco Heithaus, Frank Sclafani and Donald Cremers, Bobbie Fisch and Bill Johnston.
…Where have all of the Valley’s Giants’ fans gone? This was a question being discussed at the Three-Dot last week as a number of those folks seem to have mislaid their Giants’ caps and t-shirts over the past couple of months as the Orange and Black Fever of recent seasons seems to have significantly subsided. Granted, in June and July the team’s record was a dismal 18-34, a .346 winning percentage that is ‘bettered’ only by the hapless Houston Astros (36-71 and .336) over the season, but support for one’s team is not conditional on results, and through thick and thin the colors must be worn. I recall a kind of sad pride in having a season ticket as I watched the 1985 Giants team put fans through a 100-loss season. Many of those defeats occurred at a very chilly and windswept Candlestick Park. However, in the following seasons it all came good thanks to manager Roger Craig, Will ‘The Natural’ Clark, and the rest of the ‘Humm Babies.’ You just can’t win all the time, so get your caps back on, dig out the t-shirts, and show some Gigante Pride. They will be back.
…With the addition of Harmonique wines, replacing Londer winery in the annex at John Hanes’ Fine Art Gallery in downtown Boonville, there are now 31 tasting rooms in the Valley. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I really don’t know what to think, which is rare, but I thought you should know, whatever your feelings/thoughts may be.
…From our 3-Dot regular, The Old Buzzard, comes another in his insightful series. ‘The Approach of the Apocalypse’. Buzzard reports, “One positive result from the public meeting held last week at The Fairgrounds to discuss the effects on the Valley, good and bad, of the annual Sierra Nevada World Music Fair, is that local businesses will in future have help in controlling the ‘nightmarish’ parking situation in downtown Boonville over the event’s three days. As for actually providing a boost in restaurant and bar sales, as promised several years ago by Festival owners when they originally approached the Valley as a venue for their event, I’m afraid that with so many food and drink vendors now present within the confines of the Festival that was a promise that disappeared after the first couple of years and is not going to be revived any time soon. The decision to not give free passes to those Boonville folks who are significantly impacted by the event’s noise and the ‘unsocial behavior’ of a small number of the visitors would also seem to be a move that is not going endear the Festival to some. Nevertheless, the fact that many local people thoroughly enjoy having such an event to attend right on their doorstep is clearly a huge plus point in support of its continuance, not to mention the approximate $50,000 it provides to the economically-challenged County Fair. Two more events of a similar magnitude at some point during the year are seen by the Fair Board as a excellent way to Save the Fair, but this may be viewed by many folks, particularly those who enjoy the bucolic bubble in which we exist just as it is, as a clear sign that the Apocalypse is even closer than was previously thought.”
I’m outta here. So, until we talk again. Keep the Faith; be careful out there; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; please remember to keep your windows cracked if you have pets in your vehicle; and may your god go with you. A final request, “Let us prey.” Humbly yours, Turkey Vulture. PS. Contact me with words of support/abuse through the Letters Page or at turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net. PPS. Hi, Silver Swan. behaving yourself? Hopefully not! PPPPS. Everything cool with you, OJ.? Of course it is.
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