A TRIUMPHANT JOHN TOOHEY, Anderson Valley High School football coach, writes: “The AV Panthers played in their first ever eight man contest against Woodside Priory in Portola Valley this past Saturday. The contest was played on an 8 man regulation 80 yard field, without goal posts, as the rules require in the California version of the 8 man game. Quarterback Michael Blackburn rushed for six touchdowns and running back Marcos Espinoza added a seventh to lead the Panthers to a 46 to 20 victory. The game was a preview of things to come as the NCL II will become an eight man league next season, hopefully with a spot reserved in a state playoff bracket. The Panther footballers were welcomed home by a gift from school board member Erica Lemons, who, with the help of her sister Raina and her daughter Riley, had turned the non operating shower bay of the high school locker room into a temporary team room facility. The Panther players and coaching staff would like to extend their gratitude to Erica and the rest of the school board for taking action in the wake of this past months school board meeting. The Panthers take on Rincon Valley Christian in a nine man contest this Friday night at the Fairgrounds in their last home game of the season. The game starts at 6:00 pm and the senior athletes will be honored during half time. The game will also be the debut of the newly established, and long overdue, Anderson Valley cheerleading team.”
FIRST RAIN of the season brought us about six inches of rain reports Richard Herr of the Holmes Ranch. In Boontling a nice big rain like that is called a “trash mover.”
FROM AN ANONYMOUS email circulated among Anderson Valley High School teachers last week: “Here is a synopsis of the board meeting last night. — Football! Several community members showed up to speak to the effect that they feel football is being neglected at the high school. They cited poor field conditions, scheduling issues, and poor equipment storage conditions. Many well-thought-out, intelligent points were made, as well as many shortsighted emotional rants that seemed more like personal tantrums than legitimate complaints. Interestingly, speakers were allowed far beyond the three minute limitation that was imposed on us teachers in the July meeting and the entire topic lasted well into overtime without any fouls or penalties called. In the end, Marty Bradford stated that nothing was likely to get solved at the board meeting and that it should be discussed at an administrative level. Jim T. requested that any problems be directed towards him so that he could address them, and Erica Lemons said she would begin communications with other concerned parents and community members.”
THE MAJOR attended the meeting referred to and wrote it up in last week's paper. “There were no rants whatsoever,” he says, going on to comment that “A high school teacher ought to be able to make the simple distinction between 'a rant that seemed more like personal tantrums than legitimate complaints.' A rant isn't a tantrum, and a 'legitimate complaint' is a purely subjective way of evaluating what was actually said. 'Legitimate' seems to be a complaint this person approves of. Anyway, was neither a rant nor a tantrum at the meeting. If I might make my own purely subjective comment it would be that some teachers seem annoyed that football gets any time in front of the school board.”
COMING THIS WEEKEND to Laughing Dog Books, on Halloween, Mr. Eleven will be offering face painting from 12:00 noon till 5pm. He will be specializing in the characters from Avatar. We will also have treats (maybe some tricks) for those who come by in costume; we're open till 7pm. (— Loretta Houck)
ADD BASEBALL LOOK-ALIKES: Buster Posey and Olie Erickson; Ernie Pardini and Dave Righetti; Cecil Ball and Charlie Manuel; David Kephart and Chase Utley; Vince Bellew and Madison Bumgarner; Wyatt Gibson and Jayson Werth.
GOT BRUSH? NEED CHIPPING? The Mendocino County Fire Safe Council is providing a third round of free chipping for people doing clearing around their homes and driveways to prepare for wildland fire defense. Round Three is available to anyone residing in Anderson Valley. We will be conducting the chipping in November and December so contact Colin at 895-2020 to get the details and get on the list. Call before you cut. (— Chief Colin Wilson)
A FRIEND passes along this election advice from Woody Allen: “On the one hand we have chaos; on the other nihilism and destruction. Let us choose wisely.”
FIRE CHIEF Wilson told the Community Services Board last week that the planned rebuilding of the Boonville CalFire Station south of town is now official and will begin soon. This means that the Calfire engine and crew normally stationed in Boonville during fire season (typically May-October) will have to be housed at the AV Firehouse for 2011 fire season if Boonville is to retain a Calfire unit here next year. Accordingly, Wilson got approval to spend upwards of $6,000 to remodel the upstairs mezzanine at the Boonville Fire House to accommodate bunk beds for the Calfire crew. The final cost of insta-dorm is expected to be less because Yorkville rancher Larry Mailliard will donate lumber and much of the labor will be donated, including the labor from the Calfire crew itself.
THE DRUG VIOLENCE in Mexico seems to have had a seriously negative impact on tourism. We received an offer the other day that promised 6 days and 5 nights in Cancun, “including meals and drinks,” for $199 per person, double occupancy.
SCHOOL SUPE JR COLLINS informs us that the work on the Addison property next door to the Elementary School “is part of the ground water remediation program from the contamination caused by the leaky gas tank on school property many years ago. We take samples from a monitoring well on Addison's property, and we had to dig a trench across the driveway and put in some gravel where we dug.”
A FAMILIAR-LOOKING gent walked up to Deputy Walker's patrol wagon the other day to be promptly greeted by the deputy, “You're Spencer Michaels, aren't you?” Spencer Michaels, well-known public television journalist based in San Francisco, confirmed he was indeed Spencer Michaels. Michaels told the deputy, “I'm surprised you recognized me, but I want to tell you about a tree that fell down in the road up ahead.” A cop who watches public television is kinda reassuring, isn't it?
Be First to Comment