Valley People

THE FAIRGROUNDS is ablaze in zinnias and bustle as the annual County Fair gets ready to kick off Friday and will run on through Sunday, featuring lots of interesting events that include a soccer game Friday night between small school champs Anderson Valley and Mendocino, and a football game pitting Anderson Valley against Point Arena, with a rodeo Saturday. Sheep dog trials, too. It's a wonderful little fair, probably the last best of its country kind anywhere in the state.

KATHY AND JERRY COX depart this week for a year's stay in Guanajuato. The popular bilingual Deepend couple have sublet their Navarro home to the new high school principal, Michelle Hutchins, and the Hutchins family.

A SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISER for the Elder Home was held last week at the Madrones, Philo.

VALLEY PEOPLE are raving about the food at Coq au Vin, the new restaurant at Floodgate, and whoever could have imagined one French restaurant in the Anderson Valley let alone two, both of them excellente!

THE ANDERSON VALLEY Panther football team traveled to Potter Valley Friday, September 6, to play their second pre-season game. Potter Valley fielded both a JV and Varsity team. The JV game kicked off at 5:30 and the impressive Anderson Valley boys easily defeated the Bearcats, 38-0. The varsity game started with no scoring from either team until late in the first quarter. Unfortunately, halfway through the fourth quarter, things turned sour for coach Dan Kuny's Panthers. After being ahead 20 to 8, with touchdowns scored by Andrew Espinoza and Cesar Soto, we lost 20-22. This was a non-conference game, and AV will face Potter Valley again on the 20th of this month for a conference game. Before the football games began, the soccer team also played Potter Valley. The AV Panther Soccer team defeated the Bearcats 8-1. (— Mayte Guerrero)

SPEAKING OF FOOTBALL and, yes, like much of NorCal we looked forward all week to the return of the Niners and the amazing Colin Kaepernick who, as always, did not disappoint, methodically but spectacularly passing the Niners to a big win over Green Bay in the 'Stick's last year as a sports venue. Count me among the minority who will miss the old place, not so much for baseball but definitely for football. Saw lots of ballgames of both types there over the years and, as a kid, a few games at Kezar where I can still remember being afraid of the drunks at my first exposure to masses of unruly fans. Later, as a drunk myself, I found them unintimidating. But Kezar was as wild, if not wilder, than Candlestick ever was even though people were generally much more orderly, much more restrained through the 1940s and 50s. About '67 things went nuts in every arena of American life, but they were always nuts at Kezar.

FROM THE CHRON of 4 January 1971: “Brawling, Beatings At Kezar. Many spectators got particularly drunk as pro football made its last stand at Kezar Stadium yesterday. The 49ers were beaten by the Dallas Cowboys and numerous fans were beaten by rioters who were beaten in turn by police. Defeat, drunkenness and brawling have been familiar aspects of pro football at Kezar for 25 years. It seemed an appropriate way to close the era.” The writer was Steve Zousmer.

WAS THAT a mechanized grape harvester I saw this week in a vineyard off 101 just north of Santa Rosa? Amid rumors of labor shortages and more and more media chat about mechanization, we're curious how The Valley's wine juggernaut is faring, and by golly if we can find a wine person who will talk to us, we'll report back to you.

CINDY WILDER WRITES: “Many of you tell me how much you appreciate all the things that the AV Foodshed Group does, like the monthly newsletter, C'mon Home to Eat in October, the Holiday Dinner, the Not-So-Simple Living Fair and more. I know that you are all busy and don't have time to give to help us out. So here is a way that you can help financially and get something out of it for yourself. Those who commit to donate $25 or more to AV Foodshed Group, will receive a beautiful organic cotton tote bag as a Thank You. You can commit by reply email and then find us in the Ag Building at the County Fair next weekend to pay up and pick up your bag. Please say that you can help!”

KENDRA McEWEN tells us: “Last weekend's tomato taste off at the Boonville Farmers Market was a huge success, well attended by locals and visitors alike. All of the many entries were well received, and the voting resulted in a tie for first place. The well-loved Early Girl tomatoes from the 10-year reigning champions Brock Farms met with a new contender, Bunny Bill Harper, who entered his own creation called Tiger-rilla, tying for first place on his very first entry into the contest. A special thanks goes out to Suzi Miller for all her help with the taste off. Come back this Saturday for these prize winning tomatoes, all the other excellent produce, and music by Two Sarahs.”

THAT COLLISION near Meyer Family Winery two weeks ago? Chief Wilson clarifies: “We got a walk-in report of a major accident about '6 miles east of Boonville' on Thursday afternoon about 4:20. When I called it into dispatch they told me that it was non-injury and fire and ambulance were not requested by Highway Patrol. I was concerned that, based on the information received from the walk-in to our station there could well be more to it than CHP thought and responded with one unit anyway. When I got on scene I found a large pick-up pulling a 5th wheel trailer in the west bound lane and another full sized pick-up pulling a trailer with a Bob Cat front end loader on it a little further down the road. Both axles were broken on the trailer. The vehicles blocked the westbound lane completely and about half of the east bound lane. There were a total of 7 occupants in the two vehicles and all of them stated they were not injured. It was something of a sideswipe with the trailer and the Bobcat hitting the pickup pulling the 5th wheel pretty well wiping out the driver's side quarter panel and doing significant damage to the 5th wheel. We called in 1150 the Boonville Cal Fire unit to assist and provided traffic control for the better part of two hours while the vehicles were cleared from the highway.

IS PATRICIA DARLAND making a run for Fifth District Supervisor? Ms. Darland, a former nurse, has been on the Coast Hospital Board since the early 2000s. But now, according to a note Ms. Darland posted in the newsletter of the Mendocino County Women’s Political Caucus: “As you may know, my term on the hospital board ends in December of 2014 as does Dr. Graham’s. I will most likely not run for re-election and Dr. Graham is most likely retiring as well. That means in December 2014, there will be two vacancies. It is my hope that two or more women choose to run. Any woman who plans to run for the Hospital board should consider starting the process January 2014, declare as soon as they are able for the November 2014 elections... There is a man on Finance, Kirk O’Day, who is planning to run and hopefully he will not win. Not because he is man but because he is painfully unqualified. Either way, I could help a candidate run against him. Meanwhile, to let you know, I will most likely run for Fifth District Supervisor, either against Dan Hamburg, if he chooses re-election or anyone else who plans to run. If I decide to run, I will decide in January of 2014 and make a public commitment. My term ends, November 2014 and the Supervisorial Term will begin January 2015. Finally, an update: I have divested my Nursing/Elder Care Business, it was suffering due to the inordinate amount of time I was spending at the hospital during this critical time. I am closing my Fort Bragg store for a variety of reasons. I still have a store in Cloverdale, which I most likely will sell that business at the end of the year. I still provide Independent Nurse Consulting but will have additional free time after the first of the year to participate with MWPC, Democratic Central Committee, Soroptimist and others. — Patti.”

BETTER HUNKER DOWN, PATTI. The NWPC, an extension of the local Democratic Party, will have its knives out for you, as will the Demo's Central Committee. They are lip-locked to Hamburg even though Hamburg is registered as a Green, and the Greens, as a Mendo presence, are also a paper front for the flab wing of the local Democrats. Val Muchowski, Joe Wildman and Lee Edmundson did a job on Wendy Roberts last time around, even going so far as to have the phony local branch of the NWPC declare for Hamburg over Roberts, although the point of the organization is to support female candidates. They'll be lying about you from now on.

IT COULD HAPPEN HERE! The Albany County (New York) sheriff says a 50-year-old man is dead after being nearly decapitated by a wire he had strung on his property to protect a marijuana crop from intruders. Sheriff Craig Apple said the man was driving an all-terrain vehicle in his backyard Saturday afternoon when he ran into the nearly invisible wire. Apple said there also were other fortifications including barbed wire and a leg-hold trap. The sheriff said alcohol is believed to have been a factor in the accident. The man's name hasn't been released.

A DISEMBODIED, unidentified hand apparently connected to the Mendocino County Superior Court has distributed a press release saying that the Robes “announced last week the election of new Presiding Judge David E. Nelson, who will take office Jan. 1. Judge John A. Behnke will serve as the new assistant presiding judge. Both judges will serve two-year terms. Judge Nelson will replace Judge Richard J. Henderson as presiding judge.”

NELSON will lead the court's nine (count 'em) “judicial officers in the supervision of the Superior Court's activities within the two-branch court with its 59 employees,” the largest judicial presence in the state in relation to Mendocino County's sparse population.

“HELLO AVA, I hope you can help me with a strange mission… In 1970 I registered for our wedding a set of beautiful, earthy ceramic dishes, casseroles, coffee cups etc. at a kind of posh store in Berkeley on Telegraph Ave, I think. They were each piece hand made by Bruce Anderson and each piece is signed. I wonder if the Bruce Anderson who is the editor of your publication is the same ceramic artist or if you have any idea of where I might find him. My best, Minalee Saks from Eugene, Oregon.”

DEAR MS. SAKS: Sorry, wrong Bruce Anderson. As a kid I was so artistically maladroit, the art teacher said I could stay in the room only if  I promised not to touch anything. I've always envied people who could make beautiful things, but I'm not one of them. Good luck in your search.