# 78 - September 26th, 2007

Greetings one and all…Having been away for a few days on a carrion-finding trip to the Bay Area, I have to be brief this week but not so brief that we can’t have The Turkey Vulture Quiz…Here we go…
1. “Johnson’s Store and General Merchandise” was the hub of the town where it stood. Today it is on the same spot as…
a) The Navarro Store b) Lemon’s Market in Philo c) A.V. Market in Boonville
2. In Boontling, our local dialect, what is a “hornin’ region”?
3. In 1971, The Valley’s first bonded winery since prohibition was opened. Which winery was it?
a) Husch b) Navarro c) Greenwood Ridge

That’s all I am able to get done apart from a reminder that this coming weekend (Sept 29th/30th) sees the monthly Barn Sale just north of Boonville on Anderson Valley Way. The event runs from 9am - 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday and, apart from the numerous bargains (50% off this time round), you will be greeted by the cheerful and lovely Eva Holcomb, with equally cheerful husband Bill on the grill serving up a damn good burger…

Let us prey…Humbly yours…Turkey Vulture…..
You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at…turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net
Quiz Answers…
1. Lemon’s Market, serving Philo as well as ever…
2. A bar or drinking place – not that I know much about such things…
3. Husch winery – from where I sipped a delicious Cabernet just last night…

# 77 - September 19th, 2007

Greetings one and all…I hope that those of you who attended the Fair had a great time. I did. Many thanks to everyone who was involved in putting together this very special event and long may it continue…
First let’s have the T.V. Quiz…
1. In which year did the Anderson Valley Museum open?
a. 1975 b. 1980 c. 1985
2. In 1855, seven Swiss families settled in the north end of The Valley and the town of Christine was founded. As we learned in last week’s quiz, the town no longer exists, but two of the family names survive today as names of roads in that area. What are they?
3. What is the name of the cemetery on the northern outskirts of Boonville between Anderson Valley Way and Hwy 128?

Got them all right? Well done!…Now, back to The County Fair and my personal highlights…On Friday one of them would be the re-capture of The Apple Bowl/Cup by our Anderson Valley Panthers’ Boys Soccer team who soundly defeated Mendocino High and brought the trophy back to The Valley after a number of years absence. I celebrated the victory with many of the ‘usual suspects’ at The Lions’ Club Beer Booth where the friendly faces of Olie Erickson and Sandy Mailliard served up refreshing beers with a smile…Oh, and following our Mighty Leader, Bruce Anderson’s comments last week about Boonville having the most disabled parking spaces per capita in the country, I can confirm that this is true and yet at 9pm on Friday only five of the nineteen were in use. Why do we have so many? Do the Powers-that-Be who decide these things know something about our community that is not obvious to the rest of us? I think we should be told…
On Saturday night I was very fortunate to be invited to the traditional dinner put on every year for the Fair Contributors by Master Shepherd and Genial Host, Sam Prather. Having devoured some delicious salmon, goat, and an unnecessary but tasty salad, I washed it down with a glass of Poleeko Pale Ale from the A.V. Brewery – excellent! As I surveyed the scene from my “bird’s eye view”, I spotted a local big-wig businessman approaching the line of people waiting for their dinner. He headed for the part of the line where the food service began and stepped in, as if he was royalty or something…I suppose he believed he was entitled to do this as he did provide some refreshments but, royalty or not, by doing so he had missed the beginning of the queue where the cutlery and plates were picked up. Therefore, a sheepish walk back to the beginning of the line was necessary…Although some people murmured their displeasure, I found it all quite amusing…
After a very late Saturday night of “ in-depth discussions” following the Prather Dinner, Sunday morning’s Sheep Dog Trial came around a little too early for my liking and, despite having numerous connections to the shepherding community in The Valley, I was unable to attend. However, I did get to see the Parade at noon. It was o.k. I suppose, and some people had clearly made quite an effort, but a parade with hardly any floats, very little music, and with the very loud prevailing noise of emergency vehicle sirens and horns, was not as much fun as in previous years. This is only my opinion of course, and I could be wrong…

Moving on…As I am prone to do, I was hanging out at The County Dump conducting some important culinary business last Wednesday when Smiling Bill the Dump Man informed me that electrical goods can now be deposited for no extra charge. Good deal, eh! Obviously hazardous waste and asbestos are still to be taken to the Haz-Mat truck when it is in town. Furthermore, “No Dead Animals” is still written clearly on the sign at the gate and I’m sure you are well aware that you’re supposed to leave those “items” to my buddies and me - after all we are “Nature’s Garbage Collectors”…

The new owner of The A.V. Farm Supply just north of Philo is Karen Katz and I had a very pleasant conversation with her a few days ago. Apart from a few extra “supplemental” items, she plans to keep everything much the same as Dave and Nancy Gowan had for many years. She has somewhat tidied up the store area and seems to know what she is talking about. She also hopes to get a more settled schedule for the visiting vet from Ukiah – something that has been a little irregular of late. I wish her the very best and encourage you to “Support your Local Farm Supply”…
That’s more than enough for this week…Be careful out there and stay out of the ditches…
Let us prey…Humbly yours…Turkey Vulture…..
You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at…turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net Quiz Answers…
1. That would be 1980, and what a wonderful place it is too…
2. The names which survive are Gschwend and Guntly…
3. Evergreen Cemetery is where some of you will end up – it’s quite a nice spot so cheer up…

# 76 - September 12th, 2007

Greetings one and all - I hope that many of you will be joining me at The County Fair this coming weekend – Sept 14th, 15th, and 16th…With that in mind, this week’s T.V. Quiz has a Fair flavor about it so here we go…Answers at the end…
1. The Fair’s full name is ‘The Mendocino County Fair and Apple Show’ and the first one took place in 1938. However, prior to this there had been a ‘ Mendocino Apple Show’ that included many of the events, exhibits, and competitions that still exist today. When was the first of these held?
2. What took place at The County Fair for the very first time in 1976?
3. According to local folklore, what occurred on the Saturday night of The Fair in 1949?

Well I certainly managed to get a “bird’s eye view” of our emergency services at work this past week when Hummingbird was involved in an accident at the corner of Hwy 128 and Gschwend Road. I was summoned to the scene from Boonville where I was hovering over my first pint of beer of the day. She had been rear-ended as she was about to make a left-hand turn off the highway by a logging truck whose brakes apparently locked when it tried to slow down from whatever speed it was doing. Despite signaling well in advance, a fact acknowledged by the truck driver, he slammed into her back and she was badly shaken up and needed emergency treatment. Philo Ray was quickly on the scene and called the ambulance which soon arrived…
Hummingbird had some problems with her neck and so it was thought necessary to take her to the hospital in Ukiah. I arrived as the Volunteer Fire Department's Roy Laird and medics David Severn and Polly Bates took control of the situation - their knowledge and quality of care was immediately noticeable. I was invited to ride along with them but decided to follow the ambulance so that Hummingbird and I would have a way to get back to The Valley. There was no doubt who was at fault and the C.H.P., who were now on the scene, had been questioning the driver of the truck for some time as we drove away. With Hummingbird strapped to the gurney in a neck brace, in pain, and very upset, I knew better than to confront the guilty party - there would not be room in the ambulance for him too...
Hummingbird was x-rayed etc. and it was determined that she had bad whiplash and muscle spasms and would feel pretty shaken up for a few days. “It feels like someone has being trying to strangle me” she said to me the next day with a knowing look. Thankfully my alibi was watertight and she realized it was the accident that she was suffering from…
She wishes me to pass on her gratitude for the wonderful care and attention provided during the difficult journey over the hill to Ukiah by the medics already mentioned above, plus Art Hatcher, Martha Hyde, and driver Terry Gowan. The hospital visit was also very efficient, professional, and caring but it was our local medics and their comforting words, expert handling of the situation, and Polly’s holding of her hand, that had helped immensely in what had been a very painful and frightening experience - Hummingbird had seen the truck getting closer and closer in her rear-view mirror but had nowhere to go with cars both in front of her and also coming towards her in the opposite direction …She is feeling much better and, although feeling a little nervous of having a big logging truck bearing down behind her in the future (perhaps something we should all be wary of), she and I are both comforted by the knowledge that we will be in the best of care if something similar ever happens again and feel that all of us in these parts are very fortunate to have such an excellent service and such dedicated people carrying it out…
It is surely a sign of the times and demographics of The Valley that this year’s Apple Bowl, played at The County Fair between Anderson Valley High and Mendocino High for many, many years, will be replaced by “The Apple Cup (Copa)” – a soccer match between the two schools. With A.V. not fielding a Varsity football team this year and the Panthers and Mendocino Varsity soccer teams already scheduled to meet in a league game this Friday, the decision to make the soccer game a part of the scene at The Fair was a relatively easy one. Hopefully football will enjoy a renaissance and re-appear at The Fair soon but for now soccer is the sport of choice at the school for the vast majority of the boys and hopefully a large crowd, football fans too, will be there to support them. Kick-off is at 7pm on Friday 14th - Go Panthers!!

If you’re going, have a wonderful time at The Fair - check me out at “The Best Bird of Prey” exhibit…Until then, let us prey…
Humbly yours…Turkey Vulture…..
You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at…turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net
Quiz Answers…
1. Back in 1927
2. The Sheep Dog Trials
3. On that infamous night nearly sixty years ago there were a reported fourteen separate fights at The Fair. Just boys (and girls?) having a little fun, I’m sure…

# 75 - September 5th, 2007

Greetings one and all – The Valley hot enough for ya? Well I suppose we’ve been fortunate in that this recent little heat wave is really the only severe one so far this year. Still, it’s not very pleasant for scavengers like myself. The large dead possum that some of my fine feathered friends were devouring at the side of Hwy 128 near Jack’s Valley Store, had been “cooking” in the sun for quite a few hours when I flew by. Based on the odor, it was well-past it’s “edible carrion” date in my opinion and those guys were just being greedy… That leads me conveniently to a little “Jive Turkey” – Despite the sordid tale reported above, we Turkey Vultures prefer meat as fresh as possible and will not eat extremely rotted carcasses, well most of us won’t! Furthermore, we have an extraordinary sense of smell, the largest olfactory (smelling) system of all birds in fact, and we can tell rotting flesh that is more than twenty-four hours old from a mile or more away. That stuff is not for us. Now you know…
Let’s get to the T.V. Quiz…Answers at the end…
1. How much will it cost you to camp for a night at the Indian Creek County Park just outside Philo?
2. In 1925 and 1926 two Lodges were formed in The Valley – one for men and one for women. What were their names?
3. There were six towns/communities in The Valley for many years. Yorkville, Boonville, Philo, and Navarro are obviously still here but what were the other two, no longer in existence?

Next up, it’s Helpful Hint #41 – Do you like Blackberries? Fresh blackberries are a beautiful thing and we in The Valley have some of the very best. Leave the tourists to trample through the poison oak to pick the dust-covered berries from the side of the road and get some of the finest and freshest, for just $12 a gallon, by leaving your number at the Navarro Store and ‘someone’ will be in touch - I did, they were, and I ate…

Just a “quickie” (as the bishop said to the actress) …I was in a great hurry whilst at the Navarro Store last week (“so why didn’t you leave earlier?” as Dave Gowan would wisely say). Anyway, I had to get some supplies and gas and meet up with Hummingbird. I left my various purchases, along with some money, with Dee Dee, who was working the counter, and asked her to grind the coffee I’d bought. I then went and pumped the gas.
As I turned to walk back to the store and collect my supplies there was Dee Dee behind me with everything in a bag and my change in her hand. “I could see you were in a hurry”, she said, “So I thought I’d save you a little time. You left enough cash for everything.”…
“Now that’s what I call service” I beamed. “Thank you so much”. As I drove away I thought this just couldn’t happen in a big city and how life in the country can be so, err, “nice”…Yer gotta like that!...

Another twist in the on-going saga of the white picket “wooden” fence (which is obviously not wood) at Breggo Cellars Winery on Hwy 128 opposite Anderson Valley Way – you’ll no doubt be fascinated to learn that it’s been taken down. Something to do with the apparent new vine work going on behind it?…And what about the dust-creating field work on the other side of the road? Yet more vines going in perhaps…Now you may have correctly surmised that I do like a little tipple of wine on occasion but just how many vines do we need? Oh, well, I’m sure there’s plenty of water for them all (???)…

Finally this week, just a brief comment about an August Friday evening in Boonville – what a lot of fun! Despite it being Labor Day weekend there were not that many tourists around but the locals were out in force, frequenting Lauren’s, The Boonville Lodge, The Ox, Buddy’s Ice Cream, The General Store, and The Hotel…Hey, if you’re up in the hills and thinking how a chat with friends, seeing a few familiar faces, and sipping a cold beer or glass of wine might be a pleasant thing to do, then Downtown Boonville is the place to be on a hot summer evening – trust me on this; you’ll thank me later…
I’m outta here…Be careful out there…But first - let us prey…Humbly yours…Turkey Vulture…..
You can contact me with words of support/abuse either through the Letters Page or by e-mail at…turkeyvulture1@earthlink.net
Quiz Answers…
1. Just $10
2. The Lodges were the ‘Odd Fellows’ for the men and the ‘Rebekahs’ for the ladies
3. Wendling and Christine – back in the day both were distinct communities north west of Philo.