Greetings one and all. Are you are sitting comfortably? Then I shall begin. Let’s get started by going straight to the Public Service Announcements.
#544. The Vets from the Mendocino Animal Hospital will be visiting the Valley for a second time this month. tomorrow, January 21. They will be here on two Thursdays next month. February 4 and 25 at the AV Farm Supply on Highway 128, north of Philo from 2-3.30pm. Good to go later in that time period. If you get there before 3pm your pet will be seen. #545. The 3rd Wednesday sees Karaoke at The Buckhorn tonight, January 20; this fun evening is hosted by Sarah Songbird Larkin of The Real Sarahs from 9pm on. #546. Saturday, January 23, is the 4th Saturday of the month and that means it’s the Open Mic at Lauren's Restaurant in downtown Boonville. Dinner is served from 5pm until the performances start at 9pm. All are welcome. musicians, singers, poets, writers, impressionists, magicians, comedians, actors, fire-eaters, pole dancers, sword swallowers, ventriloquists, raconteurs, exotic dancers, animal callers, etc. No clowns. Apparently they would scare any kids who might be there, and no mimes, please. they scare almost everyone else! For more information call 895-3869. #547. The Mendocino Bookmobile returns to the Valley on Tuesday, January 26. They are here on alternate Tuesdays for 45 minutes at each of these places and times: Navarro Store 9am (for just 30 minutes before heading out to Comptche); the Floodgate 12.30pm; Philo 1.30pm; Boonville (Apple Hall) 2.30pm. Phone 463-4694 for further details. #548. The AV Museum. “The Best Little Museum in the West.” at The Little Red Schoolhouse next to the Elementary School on AV Way remains closed on their winter break until February.
Here is the menu for the Community lunches and dinners over the next week in the Senior Center at the Veterans Building in Boonville. The Center asks for a $6 donation from seniors for both lunches and dinners and charges $7 for Non-seniors for lunches and $8 for the dinners. Tomorrow, Thursday, January 21, the lunch, served by Marti Titus and her crew at Noon, will be Breakfast for Lunch with Oatmeal Bars for dessert. Then, next Tuesday evening, January 26 at 6pm, the dinner will feature Chicken Thighs with Kale and Texas Sheet Cake for dessert. All meals include vegetables, salad bar, and fruit, plus milk, coffee, tea, and lemonade. What a deal, maybe the best $7 you’ll spend all week! Hopefully you will be able to attend, and remember – ALL ages are welcome! Hope to see you there.
Topics and Valley events under discussion this week at The Three-Dot Lounge – yes it’s “Moans, Groans, Good Thoughts, and Rampant (yet surprisingly reliable) Rumors” from my favorite gathering place in the Valley.
…Update from Crab Feed Central. Tickets are selling fast for what is perhaps our most Valley community-centric event of the year, The “Original” Crab Feed to benefit the Catholic Church on Saturday, February 6. They are priced at $45 each and there will be just 300 available. This is the 14th year of the Original Crab Feed and it is more popular than ever. Some folks have commented about the scarcity of local crab and offer the cancellation of the Valley’s other Crab Feed (for the Senior Center) as evidence of this, but I can inform you that the organizers of the Original Feed have gone further afield, getting theirs from either Washington State or Alaska, and there will be plenty of premium crab for all. To buy your tickets, call either Gloria Ross at 895-3071 or John Schultz at 895-9552.
…Last week I mentioned my intent to exclusively reveal a new development on our local restaurant scene. Well that time has now arrived. Stone and Embers restaurant at the Madrones complex just south of Philo is reopening on Friday, February 19th under a new partnership, and dinner service will be resumed. New investor Matt Barnes has been a regular customer since the restaurant opened and he will join Patrick Meany, chef/owner, and chef Jon Fussell, who will also become a partner. The two chefs began using fruits and vegetables from Matt’s Three Dog Farm in 2013 and the three of them saw an opportunity to work together to create a farming plan and ever-changing menu where over 75% of the produce will come directly from the Farm, only two miles away from the restaurant. Initially they will open Fridays to Mondays from 11:30am to 8:30pm each day, like a “proper” restaurant for everyone, adding Thursdays as Summer approaches.
…The long-awaited and much-anticipated opening weekend of The Bewildered Pig at the location at the Floodgate in the Valley’s Deep End is upon us from tomorrow, January 21 thru Sunday, January 24th. I cannot imagine that drop-ins will be available so I urge you to make reservations to be among the first to check out the latest addition to the Valley’s culinary scene. 895-2088. After all the hard work put in by the owners to get to get to this point, we here at The Nest wish them every success.
…Continuing with the topic of local restaurants, following a winter break, Aquarelle Wine Bar and Cafe in Boonville is re-opening this week also on Friday, January 22, and a little bird told me that they are working on a new look, a re-focussed menu, with chef/owner Christina Jones at the helm. Meanwhile, Libby’s Restaurant in Philo will be starting up again soon-ish, on a date nobody seems to know.
…With all of these “new” developments, one cannot help but think how everyone involved must be dreaming of great success and longevity here in the Valley. Something Lauren’s Restaurant in Boonville will be celebrating 20 years of on February 27. I shall be sharing the details of this special event with you soon.
…King Goat has confirmed that there will be beer and wine available at this year’s Goat Festival and Wildflower Show in late April. The children in attendance will probably see the adults sipping these beverages, but the fear-mongers, naysayers, puritanical knuckle-draggers, and cave-dwellers should not be unduly concerned, I cannot imagine that the kids will be too traumatized by such a sight.
…Our 3-Dot regular, The Old Buzzard reports on his recent run of gambling success on NFL games, “As regular readers will be aware, at this time of year I do have some ‘well-informed’ insights into the NFL play-offs that would have led to significant financial gain in the past, if professional sports betting was legal of course. Following a four-for-four success rate over the opening weekend of the play-offs, I followed this up last weekend when I went three-for-four, being correct with my Green Bay, Seattle, and Pittsburgh predictions. These three teams lost their games but each of them covered with the points they were given. In my circles at the big boys table, point-spread gambling is the only way to go, not for the faint of heart or fearful. I missed out on a second successive weekend sweep when New England beat Kansas City by 7 when I had taken a good KC team getting 5 points. Here are my selections for the coming weekend’s two Conference Championship games. I like Carolina at home against Arizona even if the Panthers are giving the Cardinals 3 points or so, and then I must go with the Patriots in Denver, although they will be giving the Broncos about 3 points also. Obviously, I should once again reiterate that in a family newspaper such as the AVA, gambling talk cannot be condoned, which is why I must emphasize that this is presented for entertainment purposes only, to be discussed with one’s loved ones over Sunday breakfast before dropping them off at church and heading for the bar and settling in for seven hours of eating, drinking, and football.
Time to take my leave. I’ve got see a man about a sheep. So, until we talk again – Keep the Faith; be careful out there; if you break a leg don’t come running to me; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; be wary of strangers with more dogs than teeth; show love to your pets; and may your god go with you. A final request, “Let us prey.” Sometimes poking, often stroking, but almost always humbly yours, Turkey Vulture. Contact me through the Letters Page at turkeyvulture9@gmail.com. PS. Keep on humming, Hummingbird. On the sheep, Grace.
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