JOHN HAYWARD PERRILL
June 15, 1938 - June 11, 2024
John Hayward Perrill of Mendocino was born June 15, 1938 in Xenia, Ohio, died of natural causes surrounded by his loving family June 11, 2024 in San Rafael, California.
As a young man John excelled at baseball playing as a Wildcat third baseman on scholarship at Northwestern University where he earned a degree in literature. He later attended Tulane University and studied medicine. He wrote fiction and poetry throughout his life and was admired for his stories, his talent and his simple way of life. John is survived by his wife of 49 years Beth Perrill, their children and spouses, Andy Perrill (Anna), Jake Perrill (Elisa), Nova Perrill (Christin), Eve Swagerty (Jesse), grandchildren Nova Perrill, Aleah Perrill, Jane Perrill, Hans Perrill, Mabel Swagerty, Josephine Swagerty, Jonas Perrill, and Levi Swagerty, each will remember him as an inspiring thinker and a wonderful person to be around. He was predeceased by his parents Jane and George Perrill, brother Stephen Perrill and grandson Abram Perrill. A family memorial will be at Mount Tamalpais Cemetery.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
ANDERSON VALLEY UNIFIED NEWS
Things are really moving along with the construction as we gear up for staff and students returning to school. Here are some highlights:
New windows have been installed across the front of the main wing and the crew is now working on the back of that wing and the science rooms. The huge, sliding glass doors for the science rooms will be going in soon as well.
Paint has been selected and mixed; we are on pace for the front of the school being completely painted before students return. Rather than the multi-colored (orange, yellow, brown, etc…) panels, a sedate tan color has been selected for the building and a slightly darker brown will grace the trim and doors. It is going to look slick and classy!
Once we began these updates, it highlighted the need to update the lighting at the front of the school. Current lighting is very old and not in good repair. We will be installing updated lighting that will be flush to the building.
Some classes will take place in temporary classrooms at the start of school; those have been set up and are receiving final touches (i.e. ADA compliant ramps) before students return. We'll be using these temporary rooms while the Science rooms and library are being completed on the back side of the main wing. These rooms are being retrofitted with "teaching walls" that will support the large, flat-screen TVs, large whiteboards, and will have covered storage behind these visual elements
Finally, we will be installing a whole new fire alarm panel, due to the previous system being very old and recently malfunctioning, causing several false alarms. (We are grateful to Chief Avila and the local fire department for their assistance and commitment to problem-solving with us over the past few weeks.)
Beyond construction updates, here are a few other things going on:
We are very proud of our FFA team, who will be showing animals at the Redwood Empire Fair in Ukiah, August 1-4.
We are working on recruiting football players; 12 of the 17-person varsity team graduated last year, and Mr. Toohey is looking for new players. Families will be receiving Parent Square notifications about this soon. Cheerleading practice will start after the start of the academic year.
New principals, Alyson McKay (AVES) and Heath McNerney (AV Jr-Sr High School) are now in daily. We are all enjoying the friendliness and support of the local community! Secretaries will be back in offices on August 5th, and families of new students can register at that time.
Elementary school teachers will return on August 12 and 13 for professional development to prepare for teaching the newly adopted Bridges mathematics curriculum.
The whole district staff will gather on August 15 for the traditional, annual staff breakfast and will engage in some fun professional development that day, as new administrators get to know our awesome team!
We are excited about the coming school year!
Window installation is nearing completion
Lights on poles to be replaced with lighting that will be flush to the building.
Installing asphalt for ADA compliant ramps in the temporary rooms. (Please continue to scroll down for more pictures.)
Teaching walls are being installed; these will hold large flat screen TVs, white boards, and will have storage behind these elements
— Kristin Larson Balliet, Superintendent, AV Unified School District
AN INVITATION TO PREVIEW NEW SCULPTURE AND NEW BARNS IN NAVARRO
Schedule a visit. I look forward to seeing you, the the sculpture garden and showroom are always alive with ART
New Work for extraordinary times Hydrosphere, bronze, granite, 14 x 6 x 6 inches Featuring: Rain Collection and Ice Melt a series of NEW sculptures
Beauty is a super power that cannot be denied, beauty creates an opening in our consciousness inviting us to focus our attention. My focus is on the extraordinary magnificence and equilibrium of Earth's natural design verses humanity's impact on the use and understanding of planetary preservation. Water is a case in point. The excess or scarcity of a single drop of water effects all life. Rainwater flows and fills streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, reservoirs and aquifers deep below the earth’s surface. These valuable natural resources will determine our global future. The materials I choose have historical significance, bronze glass and stone are the building blocks in our cultural foundation. At around 3,500 BCE people learned how to super heat earth elements into a red hot liquid then cool the alchemy into sacred and material objects. For millennia humankind has honed observation into innovation. We call this innovation Science and Art. As we walk the earth’s time line we once again look to science and art for solutions to assuage extremes. My sculptures are contemplations, talismans, mere watermarks on the spectrum of our short presence on this beautiful planet.
Come visit, just text or call 707-357-3805
1200 Hwy 128, mile 15.08, Navarro
Artists of Anderson Valley Open Studios Veteran's Day Weekend 9th - 11th Rebecca Open Studio Thanksgiving Weekend Fri. 29th, Sat. 30th
THE ANNUAL WESTPORT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT FUNDRAISING BARBECUE
The Westport Volunteer Fire Department is hosting its Annual Fundraising Barbecue on Saturday, August 17, 2024 from noon to dusk. Enjoy an afternoon of fun and live music on the spectacular Westport Headlands while helping support the Westport Volunteer Fire Department. Admission is free.
Live music will be provided by Steven Bates, Erin and Riley, Sue Sisk and Friend, Erin Brazill and the Brazillionaires, Moon Rabbit, West of Nowhere, and the Steven Bates Band.
Barbecue chicken, ribs and a vegetarian option will be for sale. Local craft beer, wine, coffee, sweets and non-alcoholic beverages can also be purchased.
There will be plenty of fun activities for the whole family, including a Disc Golf Tournament, face painting and a bouncy house. Craft merchants will have their wares for sale, and there will also be a silent auction of some very special items. A helicopter from Reach/CalStar may pay us a visit if weather and availability cooperate. (Sorry, no dogs.)
The Westport Volunteer Fire Department provides year-round initial 911 emergency response service 24/7 for medical emergencies, motor vehicle accidents, traumatic injuries and fires on the Northern Mendocino Coast. Our response area now covers roughly 190 square miles.
PURR-FECT PLACE TO SHOP FOR PLANTS
by Tom Hine
As we all know, the way things begin is not always the way they finish, and what may seem like a modest little molehill can quickly mushroom into a thousand moles running around your backyard.
Or 25 cats.
Kristine Hill for example, once had a neighbor lady with two cats. Ho hum.
Is there anyone who doesn’t have a neighbor lady with two cats? Please raise your hand if you’ve never lived near a lady with two cats. Or even three.
Also, please raise your hand if you don’t know what happens if a neighbor has two cats but does not bother with the spay-and-neuter stuff. And then the crazy cat lady (sorry, but really) keeps not spaying and neutering her dozens of cats for many years.
Welcome to Whispering Winds Nursery down on South State Street and within easy walking distance of the nutty old neighbor lady who, when county animal control officers finally stopped by to have a look, had 60 to 80 cats, population growing. By the week.
And since the cats lived in close proximity (that’s what neighbors are, after all) some of those cats came a-wandering over to Whispering Winds Nursery. Uh-oh.
“The first cats we saw were kind of
feral-ish,” recalls Hill. There were maybe five or six of them coming from that trailer park over there. I rounded them up, got them spayed and neutered, but they just kept coming.
“I kept getting them fixed but it just got out of hand. Completely out of hand.” Hill said that about a year ago the county began taking care of the pregnancy problem(s) and a few months later the lady running the cat farm died. That’s when an official cat count was made, and 60 to 80 was the estimated number.
So at least county help was on its way, although Hill’s work was just getting started.
“The cats just kept coming,” she said. “Some of them had medical problems and some were pregnant. I took the mama cats home to have their kittens, and then I found homes for all the kittens, because I knew no one wanted to adopt a feral cat.”
Also, offering room and board to a couple dozen cats can get expensive in a hurry. Not that Hill is complaining, but still: 50 meals a day??
Right now she is CAO of her own cat garden, lounge, parlour, cafeteria and taxi service. The taxiing begins every morning with whoever arrives at the front gate. First, open car door to unlock gate, leave car door open for 15 seconds to close gate. Then drive a dozen or more cats down the hill to see what’s for breakfast.
“They rush over and hop in the car,” she said, usually into her Honda, then get ferried about 100 feet each morning. This kind of attention to stray animals suggests there are people on the planet that, when surrounded by 25 cats, are far more patient and generous than you or I.
And one of those generous, patient people, says Hill, is Julie Knudsen, who has a Cat Rescue organization dedicated to exactly what you think. Hill says Knudsen not only rescues cats, but is known to stay up all night long bottle feeding kittens by hand.
So it’s all good down at the nursery, where visitors never have to go far to encounter a friendly, happy cat that would like to be scratched behind the ears or have a tummy patted. Cat biscuits also welcome. Adoption is a possibility, although what cat would leave the leafy, jungle-like splendor of the Whispering Winds Nursery to go live with you or me? (Plus, Hill is reluctant to let any of them go.)
Overall she thinks the addition of a couple dozen cats has been a great experience, and even good for business. People love bringing kids to the kitty cat zoo, which has become as big a destination point as the best place to buy flowers, herbs and trees.
So go on down and see for yourself. Whispering Winds is right across South State from the old Water Trough bar, and when you arrive a golden tiger boy named “Tri” (rhymes with Try, and is short for Triangle in honor of his white nose patch) will meow Hello and welcome you in.
“Tri is our Walmart greeter,” said Kristine. “He loves everybody and is always first cat in line to say Hi.”
And it probably wouldn’t hurt to bring in a nice big bag of cat chow or kitty treats as a gift. I know 25 residents and one human who will purr big thanks.
AV FUTURE FARMERS:
We were happy our new administrators visited us at the Redwood Empire Fair. They came to our morning camp meeting, watched some of the pig show and saw the livestock entries.
Mrs Larson-Balliet and Mr. McNerney thanks for taking the time to visit us.
It was auction day at the Redwood Empire Fair!
We started the day by serving at the Buyer’s Breakfast and being auction runners.
The livestock exhibitors are so thankful for the purchase of their projects. It has been an amazing experience for them.
Thank you to the many businesses that supported the Mendocino Junior Livestock Auction!
Be First to Comment