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Valley People (May 1, 2019)

LIVE AT THE BOONVILLE SENIOR CENTER!

Meatloaf and music at senior lunch on Thursday, May 2. Bootjack 5 (Dean Titus, Chris Rossi, Susan Clark, Rod Dewitt & Sue Marcott) will be performing during lunchtime. Soups on at 12 sharp!

SIGNS OF THE TIME: The Yorkville Fire Department building has been dumped by its insurance carrier because it’s in a likely fire zone. The structure itself is the usual impregnable bunker and about as flammable as Lake Mendocino. If that thing can't get fire insurance this county's innumerable hill muffins would seem to be un-insurable.

ANDERSON VALLEY VILLAGE Upcoming Events

  • Tuesday May 7, 2pm: Tech Support, AV Senior Center.
  • Friday May 10, 11am: Volunteer Training, Lauren’s Restaurant.
  • Sunday May 12, 4pm: Monthly Sunday House Party, Lauren’s Restaurant.

ANDERSON VALLEY MARKET’S spiffy new coffee bar, located to the rear of the store, and presided over by the unfailingly charming Kim Bloyd the day I visited, is a true work of art rendered by owner JJ (Jennifer) Thomasson’s talented husband, Jeff Schlafer. JJ and Jeff also own Valley Woodwork based in Redwood Valley, and if you’re interested in truly fine woodwork you won’t go wrong with Jeff, whose skills are on full display at the market’s new coffee bar.

SOMETHING I'VE always wanted to do popped up (where else?) at crucial MendocinoSportsPlus —Noyo Harbor Tours with Captain Dan — “We have tours available. Call Kristin and book your tour. 707/734-0044.” I've canoed Big River to its headwaters, but have yet to take either the Noyo or the Albion cruise, assuming the guy still offers them.

VETS IN THE VALLEY in June: Dr. Burns from Mendocino Animal Hospital will be at the Anderson Valley Feed Store seeing patients on Thursday, June 20th. She's there between 2:00 and 4:00 pm. People can always check our Facebook page in the events section for more information - it's always posted when we're going to be there. (Michelle Fetzer, Mendocino Animal Hospital)

THE DISCO RANCH WINEBAR and Wineshop is now open in Boonville in the old Aquarelle space. Stop in for some nibbles and wine on the terrace or take a bottle or two home to share with friends and family. Come in and ask owner Wendy Lamer what the story is on the "Disco Ranch"! Welcome to the Valley Wendy! Open Thursday-Monday 10:30-6:30pm or whenever the last one leaves at night. Next Friday, May 3rd, the AV Farmer's Market is in the Ranch parking lot, 4-7pm. Boonville Road winery will be pouring wine that evening!

THE MARKET IS BACK! Reminder! The Boonville Farmers’ Market is back and will open with festivities on Friday, May 3rd from 4:00-7:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the new Disco Ranch, formerly Aquarelle (14025 Highway 128). Come for local food, dinner, music and other local products! Cal Fresh’s EBT Market Match program will be available. More info? Call Lama at 489-5034 or check for updates at www.avfoodshed.com.

"AIRBNB MOVES IN. Is the startup killing its destination cities?" That's the title over a story in the current New Yorker. Although it's about tourism strangling Barcelona it would also apply to Mendocino County where a large number of houses are put aside for tourists, thus causing rent inflation in every community. My old homestead, for example, has gone B&B but used to be home to an average of ten local persons.

NEW BAR IN BOONVILLE!

Thursday, April 25 at 5 p.m., Lizzby's is opening their bar in the old Saloon/Lodge location. The bar will be open Thursday through Sunday, from 5 PM until midnight. I will be behind the bar this Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Pool, jukebox, shuffleboard, and big screen TV for sports. We currently offer a wide selection of beers by the bottle and local wines by the glass. Don't worry... draft beer and cocktails are in our plans for the future! 21 and over ONLY. See you soon! (Dan Richert)

THE BAR at Lizzby's is located at the site of the legendary Boonville Lodge, at one time among the most exciting watering holes in the Western United States, post-Lodge the bar was upgraded by Tom Towey with the installation of an art piece plank and kindred up-market accoutrements, all of which have been inherited by the current proprietors of Lizzby's Restaurant. Adding a beautiful bar to fine Mexican food enhances The Boonville Experience, Mendocino County's most happening community.

THE BEER BRIGADES arrived in Boonville by the several thousands Friday and Saturday, downed unholy amounts of beer, and were gone by Sunday evening, not so much as a discarded Bud can or a drunken dude in or near the Boonville Fairgrounds, ground zero for the event. And no arrests, according to the weekend County Jail booking logs, which has got to be a record given the number of drinkers.

THE MOUTH of the Navarro has nearly closed. Already. Meaning it won't blast open until the winter rains.

BOONVILLE'S BOXCAR BOARDWALK features AbraKaDebra Bodywork. One hour sessions in the fragrant surroundings of Boxcar Bodywork. Call for your appointment today: 707/357-3068

Flexible hours. Are you injured? Chronic pain?

Website: abrakadebra.vistaprintdigital.com

PETIT TETON MONTHLY FARM REPORT for March:

The weather has gone from spring to summer overnight; as a result of the great winter and spring rains the weeds and grasses have gone to 5' after two days of heat; everything that can bloom is blooming, including vegetables; the ground is drying so fast we have to set up the drip water systems; and all of it means we're running fast to keep up. Another 1000 onions went in the ground this week along with fennel, carrots and shallots; there are hundreds of stepped up tomato plants waiting in the wings; the cucumbers and squashes are started; beets are swelling in the hoop house; cherry tomatoes are setting and peppers turning red in the greenhouse, and Mendocino farmers' market starts next week. We're tired! 

A two foot long king snake was patrolling in the hoop house yesterday; birds and frogs are everywhere; the front door swallows have laid their eggs and the orioles are nest building in the front yard valley oak along with the usual crowd of acorn woodpeckers who squabble over everything; our chickens have outdone themselves egg laying this season and the king pigeons are producing large numbers of squab. Our two piggies were taken to market, well, one pig because the other refused to climb into the trailer (she will have a different fate), and there's a new cow in three freezers. Let the season begin. 

—Nikki Auschnitt and Steve Krieg Petit Teton Farms, Yorkville

ADD LOOK-ALIKES: Greg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs and Bill Harper of Rancho Navarro

A REMINDER WE LIVE in the country: "A sad notice from us and heads-up to neighbors. Our 15-year-old cat went missing on Thursday and this morning we found what remained of him (just fur and a few bones) very close to our house at the end of Nichols Lane, which is about 1.5 miles up Little Lake Road. We’re guessing it was a mountain lion."

MOUNTAIN LIONS seem pretty well fed around here, what with the deer population providing a moveable feast. The Bay Area's burgeoning population of coyotes are known to enjoy a plump household tabby. Even in the center of Boonville where homes abut wild spaces it isn't all that unusual for the larger predators to snag an unattended domestic animal.

CHILDISH PROVOCATIONS. On Highway 128 between Yorkville and Mountain House Road, on the west side of the highway, lies Highland Estate. A sign at the foot of Highland Estate's driveway reads, "No Pullout. Vehicles Exiting." I've been pulling into the No Pullout for months, and I've never yet seen an exiting vehicle. But it's the peremptory tone that annoys me. I'm just guessing here but I suspect the owners of the place are OCD cases — obsessive-compulsives. The property seems a little too telltale orderly, and the sign is also unnecessary since there's a CalTrans pullout less than a half-mile farther down the road. So what we have here is OCD people trying to foist off their obsessiveness on innocent passersby! I won't have it! As an American and a motorist I'll be darned if I'll give in to roadside fascism! 

BALO VINEYARD/Winery, Philo, has been bought by Healdsburg winemaker Wells Guthrie who once owned Copain Wines (now owned by Kendall-Jackson). Balo was owned by Tim Mullins who also recently sold the Live Oak Building to Anne Fashauer. The asking price for Balo was $4.7 million.

Wells Guthrie (courtesy SFGate.com)

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