# 137 - November 19th, 2008

Greetings one and all…Are you sitting comfortably - then I shall begin….Here’s the Valley Quiz!...This time I’ll be testing your knowledge of “important” Valley dates in time…
1. In what year was the first Variety Show?
2. How about the year of the very first A.V. Beer Festival?
3. And finally, when did the A.V. Pinot Festival begin?...
All three were founded within a few years of each other - two points for a correct answer; one point if you get within two years…Answers at the end…
A little bird has informed me that the Independent Career Women will enjoy their monthly gathering this evening (November 19th) at the Veterans Hall. I’d love to attend but my invite has once again been “lost in the mail” (?)…Next month is their Christmas Party and there is a very promising rumor going around that a request for the pleasure of my company will be hand delivered! Yer gotta like that!...
Meanwhile, speaking of Independent Career Women, Hummingbird has just returned from a few days with her family in the mid-west and I must say that it’s great to have her back. Not wishing to put words into the bard’s mouth or at the tip of his pen, but I do believe that if he had ever swung by these parts and met her, Shakespeare would probably have observed, “Age cannot wither her nor custom stale her infinite variety”…And that, good readers, is the Quote of the Week. You should feel free to use it when referring to your own loved ones - compliments don’t get much better than that…
On the entertainment horizon we can look forward to the 3rd Annual Anderson Valley Film Festival coming to The Grange at the end of January (22nd – 25th) with one third of the twenty-four movies having some connection to the Valley, including ‘Pig Hunt’ and ‘The Spirit of the A.V. Variety Show 2008’; and then in the early summer it will be the turn of the Theatre Guild when they put on their annual show, also at The Grange, and this time it will be from the works of American humorist James Thurber under the directorship of Rod Basehore…I thought you’d like to know…

Public Service Announcement #211 – I have spoken to the Vets in Ukiah at the Mendocino Animal Hospital and they are unable to get anyone over to The Valley this month and December isn’t going to happen either – they are short staffed. It would appear that, until the New Year at least, it’s going to have to be a trip over the hill for your pet’s needs. That’s too bad – a traveling vet is a great thing to have and hopefully they will return in very early 2009…
Public Service Announcement #212 – With Thanksgiving coming next week (Nov. 27th), the Barn Sale will not be held on the final weekend of the month as usual but instead it will be this coming weekend, November 22nd and 23rd, from 9am to 3pm on both Saturday and Sunday…As always you will be able to peruse the bargains galore in the Big Barn alongside The St. Elizabeth Seton Catholic Church Refectory on A.V. Way just north of Boonville, where you will be greeted by the smiling faces of Eva Holcomb and Gloria Ross and of course treat yourself one of Bill the Grill Master’s ‘world famous’ Holcomburgers…

I spent a very relaxing couple of hours at Mosswood Market in downtown Boonville last Saturday morning and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Good coffee, lots of familiar faces, and a very steady flow of customers indeed. It really has turned into quite a gathering place for locals and visitors alike – good for Sharon, Colleen and the rest of the crew…And, just a few yards away, I stopped by to wish the new owner of the Log Lifter Ice Cream shop, Erica Kesenheimer, daughter of Paula, all the very best as she embarks on her adventure to try to make that business a success. She has some good ideas and the best wishes of many. So, Valley dwellers, I herby encourage you to support your local businesses and remember – “eating out is fun!”…

Well, now I think it’s time to take my leave…Be careful out there; stay out of the ditches; think good thoughts; get out and buy your Turkey, and may your god go with you…Oh, and of course, one final request, “Let us prey”…Humbly yours, Turkey Vulture…
You can contact me with words of support/abuse by e-mail at
turkeyvulture1 @ earthlink.net…And before you get too ‘down and dirty’, try to remember - sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me – unless of course somebody hits me with a really heavy, hard-covered dictionary…
Quiz Answers…
1. 1992 2. 1996 3. 1998
If you managed two points on each, some might accuse you of being a bit of a Party Animal…I couldn’t possibly comment other than to say, “Well done!”