Page 40 - Sonoma County Gazette - August 2018

Wow, August already? This summer is FLYING by.
Here we are in the middle of a pleasant & fairly warm summer!
You know what else is flying by? Cars. Cars are flying by on the newly smooth surface of Bohemian Highway. Like buttah, it is.
The large redwoods outside of my airy cyber-hut have happily had some fog to keep them moist!
This project has involved a certain amount of inconvenience and delays as we wait for the pilot car to complete its leisurely loop and shepherd our caravan of cars past the road work. That’s all behind us now, (or at least it will be by the time you read this—at this writing, they still have to paint the stripes and what not).
I am overjoyed to hear that the incredible McApin tree—19 feet in diameter—is among the many old-growth trees saved by the generous actions of the Richardson family and the Save the Redwoods League to preserve these timeless treasures! The tallest is said to be 313 feet, which is 8 feet higher than the Statue of Liberty. Muir Woods has their tallest at 258 feet. The public will have access soon to the Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve. The tallest known coast redwood in the world is the 379-foot tall Hyperion Tree, in Humboldt County’s Redwood National Park.
Caveat: this apparently does NOT include the repair of the roadway across from Tyrone. The concrete K-rail and the stop sign will be with us a while yet, probably festooned with “fix me”, with “a drink” currently appended. I am still thinking this is the work of the same waggish individual(s) who have been providing written commentary for the benefit of the vehicular reader. That commentary has been expressing impatience with the slow pace of repairs
Coming back down to earth, I went to thank the new officers of the Cazadero Community Club and members for initiating some new free local entertainment! The second Movie Night, featuring “Coco” will be on July 25th and the August presentation, with film TBA on the 22nd—FREE! Movie will be shown around 6:30 at Firehall #1, with hotdogs, cold drinks, popcorn and candies available for purchase. Bingo Night will be on August 4th.
and taking issue with the prioritization process by which our tax dollars are spent, or not. In other words, the lukewarm war between citizens and gummint continues.
Naturally, you will want to hear more about the details of the road construction—especially if you read my earlier column nerding out on that very subject. Happy to oblige!
The next meeting of the Cazadero Community Club will be on Tuesday, August 7th, 7 p.m. also at the Firehall. Join your neighbors in planning events which benefit the entire community! Memberships are only $10. yearly for Individuals and $15. per family. Send to CCC, P.O Box 3, Cazadero 95421.
The various county websites have not been updated with specific information on the Bohemian Highway work, but by observation, I can confidently state that the Boho Highway was the recipient of an “Asphalt Concrete Overlay”. This consists of, and I quote the “Pavement Preservation” page on the sonomacounty.ca.gov website:
Feel like cleaning out your house, storage areas, etc.? Have art, preserves, furniture you want to “pass on” to others? Cazadero’s Sky Garden presents its annual Recycling Circus Rummage Sale, Flea Market, Barter, Trade, Free Cycle on Saturday Sept 15th 9am-4pm at Sky Garden downtown Cazadero. $10 space fee to benefit Sky Garden; sellers to provide your own table & shade if wanted. Artisans with local handmade crafts welcome, as well as more local produce vendors. To reserve your space or more info email schezer@ gmail.com or call 632-5743.
While downtown be sure to check out “Caz Central’ for unusual locally- made pieces and the General Store for daily groceries, body care items and tasty soups and sandwiches. The Duncans Mills General Store, also owned by Cazaderans, is another good spot for many delicious picnic makings, local wines and more.
SCHOOL’S BACK! The Montgomery Elementary School begins classes on Wednesday, August 22nd at 8:25am. There are no student activities planned for August. The school will be closed on Labor Day, Sept 3rd. Anyone wanting to register their students should be doing it soon and may call the office at 632- 5221 to arrange for a time to come by and pick up registration materials. They can also check the website at www.mescaz.org for updated information. Thanks to Julie LaPlante, recently retired MES Office Manager, for keeping us current re MES activities!
Literary Highlights: The 4rd Annual “Come to Know the Poets”, hosted by our own local poet, Shashana Kane Proctor, will be held on Saturday August 25th-3 p.m. at Anderson Hall in Camp Meeker. Five talented Sonoma county poets will present their work, including one very dear to my heart; Gregorio Pehrson. There will be music and delectable munchies. $15 per person (sliding scale applicable). Shashana’s newest book “Cave of the Casting Bones” is also available at Caz Central. Please call 632-5761 for more info and directions.
I wanted to pass on this notice that I received from the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters regarding the district governing board elections for the Cazadero Community Services District. This election has been changed to even-numbered years to consolidate with statewide elections, putting the next one on November 3, 2020. Any questions please call 565-6800 or email rov- info@sonoma-county.org
I wish Very Happy August birthdays to Andrea Feeney on the 1st, Ben Radtkey on the 5th, Ted Parmeter on the 8th.Nicole King celebrates on the 9th, Becky Chambers on the 22nd, Ryan Hartnett on the 23rd, Mari Parmeter ohas her day on the 27th ,with Elizabeth Moeckel on the 30th and Michel Orlando- Griggs on the 31st..
Enjoy summer, please drive carefully and call me at 632 5545 or email mayawrld@sonic.net with info for your Cazadero column!
Asphalt Concrete (AC) consists of mineral aggregate bound together with asphalt, laid in layers, and compacted. The most common type used on streets and highways is Hot Mix Asphalt (commonly abbreviated as HMA).
Hot Mix Asphalt Overlay is regarded by most road departments as a standard for road maintenance and restoration, and has been for several decades. It produces durable, long-lasting results, and can increase pavement life by 15 years or more. Combined with other processes, such as milling or grinding of old pavement, an AC overlay can transform a tattered road surface into a like-new condition.
This is, on the whole, good news. After Full-Depth Reclamation (as was done to Cazadero Highway), the AC overlay is the most intensive roadwork method, and at fifteen years provides the longest expected life after the Full-Depth Reclamation’s thirty years.
The steps involved in an AC overlay are several. The first is the repair of selected locations in the roadway, places where the roadway is particularly uneven. When I saw this work being done, I was concerned that these spot repairs were to be the entirety of the work. I dubbed this the “Brylcreem” work: a dab here, a dab there, a little dab’ll do ya. Apologies to anyone born after 1970 who has no idea what I am talking about.
After the Brylcreem work is done, the next phase is to mix batches of mineral aggregate (read: tiny pebbles, as Don Ho might have sung if he were Californian) and asphalt, then the laying down of layers, and finally the steam rollering (that’s the “and compacted” part in the paragraph above). I don’t know about you, but my inner eight-year-old boy loves to watch steam rollers at work. I wish I could drive one. Taking bumpy things, making them smooth. Man, that would be the life.
Enjoy the new highway. Enjoy popping your clutch (apologies to anyone born after 1980 who has no idea what a clutch is) at the top of the hill past the Dentist’s office and cruising a steady 30 mph at max gas mileage all the way to Camp Meeker’s Front PorchTM at Market and Bohemian.
Enjoy it for the next fifteen years. It’s nice to see the West County getting the good kind of attention for a change.
40 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 8/18