AS MOST OF US KNOW, Anderson Valley is a matriarchy. The Valley is run and managed by women, prominently among them these two, Lauren Keating and Pilar Echeverria.
THE AV SENIOR CENTER Crab Feed last weekend was sold out in advance, and score another big win for the Senior Center's popular director, Renee Lee.
CPR & FIRST AID TRAINING: Class and AHA Certification. Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024 at the AV Fire Department in Boonville from Noon to 3pm. Three student minimum, six student maximum. First come/first served. Call 707 895-202 or email admin@andersonvallyfire.org for more info. Free for AV residents. Sponsored by the AV Volunteer Firefighters Association.
LUCY ESPINOZA has earned the highest degree the California FFA can bestow! Only about 3% of California FFA members earn their State FFA Degree. Congratulations to Lucy Espinoza. We are proud of you! (Boonville-Anderson Valley FFA)
ANOTHER WAY to support our Anderson Valley museum; Rent our Rose Room… The Rose Room is our spacious, attractive and well-lit gathering room, perfect for organization meetings, events and parties. The room accommodates 50 people, with an adjoining service space that includes a refrigerator, sink and microwave. Folding tables and chairs are included in your rental, as well. The room boasts great acoustics for musical entertainment and a speaker system with wireless mics for use by speakers. Rental also includes wifi. The room is available for rental by the day for only $50 for meetings and $100 for events and parties. For further information or to rent the Rose Room contact andersonvalley.history@gmail.com or 707-272-7248. (Sheri Hansen)
OUR APOLOGIES for the extended delay in reopening the swing area of our local park and playground. Errors were made during installation of two new elements that halted further work and will need correction before we can safely invite families to engage with the elements in this area. Thank you for your continued patience. If you have skills or resources that may help with the maintenance and/or continued improvement of our local park, or if you’d like to make a donation, please don’t hesitate to contact us. It Takes A Valley! (Elizabeth Jensen. (415) 713-3833. elizabeth.martha.jensen@gmail.com)
FRONTRUNNER CONFESSION: I thought the Niners were done at the half on Sunday, and they would have been done if the Lions hadn't dropped some crucial passes, and if the amazing Brandon Aiyuk, the young man with the old face, hadn't miraculously caught a ball that bounced off the defender at the goal line, and the whole energy of the game went over to the Niners, and the much maligned Brock Purdy took over for the win. What a game! Next up, Taylor Swift, er, the Chiefs in the Super Bowl on February 11.
REPRESENTING Mendocino County at Saturday's Cease Fire Now demo in San Rafael yesterday was Jeff Blankfort of Ukiah and Bruce Anderson of Boonville and San Anselmo. Anderson was accompanied by his daughter. Jessica, and granddaughter, Gemma, the latter participating in her first anti-war rally with a lifetime of opposition ahead of her. AVA contributor Norman Solomon was the principal speaker. Attendees, numbering about 300, signed an open letter to Congressman Huffman demanding he support an immediate ceasefire. Huffman had earlier signed a ceasefire petition but the next day apologized for his "mistake." Each mention of his name was greeted by hearty boos. Following the speeches on the unseasonably warm afternoon, the sedate crowd of protestors walked up 4th Street and back to the rally site, a commercial courtyard between the Bank of America building and an apartment complex. Huffman's office is in the bank building, natch.
BOONVILLE WATER PROJECTS REPORTS
(from the January 17 Community Services District Board meeting minutes)
Final reports from RCAC (Rural Communities Assistance Corporation) were shared and will be linked to the Water Committee website. These were the final “deliverables” from RCAC to the State DFA (Dept of Financial Assistance) at the completion of RCAC’s contract to assist us in the public outreach process for both projects. The Clean Water report covered their involvement with the sewer project to date and the Drinking Water report covered their assistance with the public meetings and survey. There are many informative graphs and descriptions of both projects.
RECOMMENDED READING: “All Roads Lead to Comptche,” a local history by Katy Tahja, known to many of you as the friendly clerk at the Gallery Bookshop in Mendocino who used to double as the librarian at the Mendocino Middle School. Mrs. Tahja, a long-time resident of Comptche, has assembled an interesting history of the crossroads hamlet, complete with old photos of some of the area’s most significant structures, including one of the original Orr Hot Springs Hotel from the 1880s I found especially interesting as a sort of architectural devolution representing, in a way, America’s descent from the dignified democratic elegance of the Gilded Age to the, ah, rather frantic nude inelegance prevalent at the ramshackle Orr Springs of today. There are also descriptions of life in pre-industrial Mendocino County as represented by workaday Comptche fleshed out with anecdotes passed down over the years by old timers. Mrs. Tahja’s useful little history is a must-read for all of us who live here.
COTTAGE FOR RENT IN NAVARRO
800sq ft studio. Rent includes water, garbage, and Internet. The rent is $1,100.00 per month with $1000.00 deposit. Great place for a couple or individual. Small pets allowed with an additional deposit. This cottage is a remodeled old logging cabin. Back in the early 1900’s, it was built on top of an old growth sled that could be dragged by horse or oxen to flatbed train cars. Then, it would be delivered to the logging camps for residence or utility. Nestled in the redwoods if The Deep End, it is conveniently located on Hwy 128 just across from the Navarro Store. Amenities include both Electric and Propane Heat, AC/Dehumidifier, Electric Stove(small) and water heater, full tub and shower, laundry facilities and Jacuzzi(seasonal) on premises. Water, Garbage, and Internet provided. Tenant is responsible for Propane, Electricity, and Yard Maintenance. Owner lives in home on adjoining lot. Call Marty at (510) 432-6196.
SARAH SONGBIRD:
Our next single is dropping on Feb 6th and it’s a very personal song that I am so excited to finally share! You can PRE-SAVE it on the streaming service of your choice at the link below. Please SAVE and SHARE.
https://ingrv.es/lichen-on-a-limb-ntw-m
SILENT BOOK CLUB IN BOONVILLE. Enjoy books, friends and drinks, no homework. No assigned reading, all readers welcome. ebooks, Audiobooks, textbooks, comic books. Bring your own book. Wednesdays, 5pm at the Boonville Distillery (downstairs from Lauren’s at the Buckhorn). Order food and drinks, share what you’re reading for an hour or so. Or just listen to the others. Socialize, or not.
THE NEW BOONVILLE HOTEL
The stillness around here is delicious
Come enjoy the quiet and celebrate love in all its forms on Valentine's Day Wednesday, February 14th with a beautiful prix fixe dinner we'll serve you a romantic dinner, and give you a chance to sit by the fire and whisper sweet nothings to your honey by candlelight.
And while the garden sleeps we are preparing for, Offspring @ the Farrer Building, wood fire pizza, pasta and oysters; reopening Thursday February 8th!
We'll be offering an expanded menu & table service Tuesday-Saturdays. We'll keep you all updated in social media land + website.
Sunday evenings now thru the end of march join us for dinner and get a room that night @ half price. (holidays excluded) + we have some beautiful new drinks from our bar on nights the restaurant is open, along with Friday & Saturday evenings 4-6 we are offering a simple bar menu perfect for a light meal.
We're serving our Prix Fixe Menu Fridays thru Mondays during the cooler months. Perry posts the menu online Wednesday afternoons for the upcoming weekends.
Save your table
We've been here 35 years, and are planning for another 35 - thank you for being part of it all. hope to see you soon
The Boonville Hotel and Restaurant — “it's about people, food, drink, and a well-made bed.”
The Boonville Hotel and Restaurant 14050 California, Highway 128, 707.895.2210, PO Box 326, Boonville, CA 95415
boonvillehotel.com
A COUPLA locals have given me the old fish eye lately when they’ve spotted me at Faulkner Park with an empty Have-A-Heart trap. No, I wasn’t off-loading cats. Due to an over-population of raccoons and possums here at The Fort, I’ve had to begin my own relocation program. Anything wrong with that? What else can I do? When they’ve become so fat and insolent that they hiss at me in front of my own front door, they gotta go. Of course by that standard I should also re-locate the Board of Supervisors, but I don’t think they’d fit in my trap.
FACT you probably don't want to know, but Charles Manson and a couple of the girls once lived in a trailer on the beach in Navarro, and many of us remember that before the state took over that area Manson wasn't the only criminal residing in the ragtag camp of residents who enjoyed a free beach front trailer home. Some locals will also remember the sign that greeted customers at the inn and restaurant prior to the squatter takeover — “I don't mind the hippie movement so long as it keeps on moving.”
THE BOONVILLE DISTILLERY, 14081 Hwy 128, Boonville. The Boonville Distillery is excited to be participating in Seafood and Sips at our women-owned distillery in downtown Boonville. Come see us at 14081 Highway 128, Boonville, below Lauren’s at the Buckhorn, for one of two specials—a shrimp cocktail paired with a Cucumber BD Vodka Tonic or a Filthy BD Vodka Martini with a bump of California Caviar.
A STATEMENT I OFTEN HEAR. “You only write about this or that to sell newspapers.” O yeah. Mendo personalities are big sellers. If anything, they are sales negative because very few people beyond themselves are interested, unfortunately, because the lack of general interest in lots of stuff means bad people are getting over and John and Jane Q Public are getting ripped off.
IF THE AVA were calculated to sell newspapers and advertising it would have gone to horoscopes, teen pages, tributes to the wine industry, and great big photos of toddlers and dogs running through summer time sprinklers a long time ago. But the critics still say it: “You’re just doing this to sell newspapers.”
CAN'T CITE the source, but these sentences resonated with me because I, along with most old guys, have had the Prostate Experience. Mine didn't quite get me into that Last White Tunnel, but I was told my chances were fifty-fifty. First, the resonant statement from a fellow sufferer:
“As a family, we were moving home when my own prostate problems began. This was in the middle of the pandemic and our landlords had decided rather uncharitably that they wanted their property back. I had been working as a volunteer on an ambitious Covid project and was exhausted anyway. (One well-known British newspaper recently ran a story on what landlords must do to survive. Well, ours simply didn’t return the deposit.) Meanwhile, I couldn’t pee. I was like a unmilkable goat in the Swiss Alps with a potentially exploding udder. My urethra was being so tightly squeezed by my enlarged prostate that only two days after moving into our present place I found myself in Accident and Emergency where I was swiftly made a member of the Catheter Club.”
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