SERVICES FOR DENIS LEE BOARDMAN, who was murdered in his home in Fort Bragg on Jan. 2, 2016, will be held next week. A VA memorial-internment of ashes will be held Friday, Feb. 19, at 3pm at Oceanview Cemetery. A memorial service honoring Denis will be held Saturday, Feb. 20, 11am to 2pm at Lions Hall on Redwood Avenue. (Full obituary elsewhere in this issue.)
WE UNDERSTAND the police are pursuing a short list of suspects in Denis's unspeakably sad end, but so far without success. A young man with Boonville associations remains at the top of the list.
TOBY SMITH has died. She was 85. Well-known as a writer on regional affairs and local history, Mrs. Smith and her husband, Ray Smith, a retired reporter for the Press Democrat, made their permanent home in Santa Rosa, but much enjoyed their second home on Indian Creek in Philo. Ray Smith died in 2011 at age 83. Mrs. Smith is survived by her sons Scott and Andy, two grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. No services are planned.
STREET LIGHTS, for those who think they're essential to rural life, now have a website to report to when they go dark and reveal the glorious night sky in all its coruscating brilliance and endless mystery. Street light trouble? A reader advises, "Write down all numbers on the pole and put a location (not just an address). I saw the one on the west end of the fairgrounds parking lot was completely out and I reported the next two, heading east, as intermittently being out.
http://www.pge.com/myhome/customerservice/contact/streetlight/single/
KEN HURST alerted us to a feature story in a recent Sunday Chronicle on one of Anderson Valley's more illustrious graduates, Merilee Talkington, class of 1960. Ms. Talkington's parents owned and operated the Boonville Motel, now called the Boonville Apartments. Daughter Merilee went on to become a well-known actress, for years running her own theater in downtown San Francisco.
THE BOONVILLE FAIR BOARD has nixed the Mendo Grow event. Various trustees expressed apprehension at the likely sale of dope edibles, salves, ointments and so on. Organizers were told, Come back when it's legal. Of the many ironies here, Boonville's latter day prosperity, prior to wine, was marijuana farming. And before that we had a real economy based on timber, farming, ranching, and fishing.
THE FAIR BOARD'S decision seems irrational, given the annual, fully sanctioned, Rasta Fest, which runs on dope, and not to mention the beer and wine functions, all of them so well- managed only the Fairgrounds neighbors irritated by the infinitely repetitive rhythms of reggae, complain. Mr. Rea clearly knows what he's doing but Boonville passed on a lucrative event.
A READER WRITES: "A buddy of mine went to the Fair Board meeting Monday night. Chad Rea has been trying to promote a Spring event at the Fairgrounds called the Mendo Grow Show. I have the specs for the event. Short story long is it was slated to be a 21-and-over weekend cannabis education event. Classes, workshops, roundtables, entertainment, professional paid staff, no skeezy volunteers, 2,000 person maximum. Gates closing at 8pm with maybe one band to close the day. Chad is a straight up guy, Boonville resident, has a life and an actual job. The co-producer is Nigel James, Bill Graham's number two guy who now produces the Loc'n festival.
"WHEN NIGEL heard Chad was doing this he jumped in. He immediately saw the opening for a reputable and replicable event that wasn't four days of Molly and DMT, a way to showcase the county's place in cannabis via education, not stoners. Chad already had a short list of the best speakers, activists, business people, product producers etc. lined up to show up at this thing. And he had sponsors.
"CHAD went to the fair board Monday night to get approval for the event. He had spoken extensively with fair manager Jim Brown who was all for it. The Board unanimously voted to table ALL cannabis events until legalization. The Sheriff was aware of this event. He had heard about it and Chad and his attorney had a Wednesday meeting scheduled. Allman had no problem with the event. However he had heard that some people in Boonville did.
"ISN'T THE BOONILLE FAIR kind of hurting financially? Tell me I'm wrong, but isn't Sierra Nevada a hot drug-fueled mess? Isn't the Beer Festival a beer-soaked slog? And don't they do some big wine events every year?
"WOW".
"AND IRONICALLY, Chad is doing video promotion for the winegrowers association for the Fairgrounds—gratis.
At the moment, he's looking at other venues. "
(QUESTION: What's 'molly' and 'dmt'? Hard to keep up with today's stoners.)
STEVE SPARKS WRITES: "The final piece of the Hulbert Ranch on Highway 128 opposite Gowans Oak Tree is under threat of sale and therefore ‘the end of life’ for this 150-year old Valley ranch is drawing near. In recent times, two of the three sections have been sold to outside interests already. And it’s probably just a matter of time before the vines go in at those locations. Now the final 40-acre piece of this historical ranch is on the market. The three remaining elderly children of Clarence and Ruby Hulbert have little interest in holding on to the property, but Debbie Young, wife of Vince Young, who is the son of Clarence and Ruby’s deceased daughter Marietta, most certainly is. The Hulbert’s have owned the ranch for five generations and Debbie and her family want to continue that legacy. The ranch is also the location of her business, ‘Horse-n-Around,’ a family owned and operated business that provides horse trail rides for guests who stay in rustic cabins on the ranch. The property used to be a working ranch for many years and Debbie hopes to bring some of those features back to the property, as well as making it an attraction for visitors as a day camp at which guests get to experience a range of farming activities. With this in mind, Debbie is hoping to buy the final piece and save the Ranch from destruction. However, she needs investors to help her do so. Family members cannot assist, so she is turning to Valley folks who can invest or may have an interest in being partners in her business opportunity and/or a desire to keep a slice of the Valley’s history alive. If this appeals to you in any way, please call Debbie at 895-3075. Let’s hope Debbie gets some response(s); otherwise the demise of the Hulbert Ranch will be yet another sign that the Apocalypse is rapidly approaching.”
THE SILLIEST DAY of the year has come and gone. Valentine's Day, a creation of the candy, flower and greeting card industries, with a big boost from restaurants who run major media ads of couples gazing at each other over wine glasses. At the Dragon's Lair, Ukiah, corner of Main and Perkins, I resisted an impulse to veer onto the sidewalk and run over a sign that read, "Don't forget to love yourself." I gave myself a hug and, stifling a sob, but with wuv and puppies in my heart, managed to stumble through the rest of my day.
ATTENTION TABBY AND MUFFY. Tell your owners that according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife the autopsies of "107 mountain lions killed last year legally under provisions of special depredation permits," found "52% percent were found to have eaten cats, dogs or other domestic animals." Only 5% had eaten deer, which are supposed to be the preferred fare of the big cats. But deer are harder to catch, involving a lot of running, and mountain lions are only good for relatively short sprints. Cat-on-cat, however, Tabby is a quick and easy meal for her much bigger brothers and sisters.
WAFTING IN OUT of cyber-space this interesting question: "Does anybody know anything about this small (pygmy sized) pond, bandstand, picnic ground and island on Albion Ridge, west of “J” Road. It is artfully carved into the middle of the pygmy forest. Who owns it? What has it been used for?"
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