Page 42 - Sonoma County Gazette February 2020

Hopefully by the time you are reading this the 49ers will have beaten the Chiefs to be crowned Super Bowl Champs! Regardless of the outcome of this particular game it’s so nice to have our team back in a position of relevance and from the looks of things I’m guessing they’re going to be at or near the top for a while – yay!
I think most people know what I mean when I mention the waterfall on Bohemian Hwy between Occidental and Monte Rio. If you don’t but have ever driven that way I’m sure you’ve noticed the large rocky cliff faces that look a bit like a quarry. Across the highway from these there was a bunch of work done last year to install large tree trunks, stumps and boulders into Dutch Bill Creek in the interest of creating in-stream habitat for salmon and steelhead. I stopped by this spot on a lunch break the other day and boy was I treated to a show! For a good 15-20 mins I got to watch two fish (I’ll say apprx. 20Inch length) following each other from one side of the creek to the other. They went in and out of the current created by these new in-stream features, a simple flick of the tail moving them along with seeming ease. It was simply magical. It seemed to me like a rousing endorsement of good work to all entities who created this new habitat.
February the month of love! February in CA is more like April back on the east coast. You can still enjoy some winter skiing and beauty, or go to the Caribbean, but you can expect signs of spring later in the month. Now that I love. Also, if you make it through early February, the threat of flooding subsides. I’m still optimistic this will be a good year for a needed change on all fronts: locally, nationally, and globally.
I wanted to give a shout out about OAEC’s James Pelican’s directorial debut in a play going on down in Petaluma. As many of you may already know he is the man behind the wildly successful Chautauqua series at OAEC. Here are his words about his new venture, the play entitled Ripcord. “Hi folks, I have been slowly getting drawn into the realm of directing, serving as co-director for a number of operas and musicals at Cinnabar Theater the past few years. They have now kicked me out of the nest and I’m on my own at the helm of this new production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Ripcord.” It runs Jan 31st through Feb 16th (Fri and Sat at 7:30, Sun at 2:00) at Cinnabar Theater in Petaluma. This
The Pink closed in Dec 2009, ten long years ago due to permitting issues. The owner at the time, Tim Parker, put a lot of time, passion, and money into The Pink. He, like the current owner Tom O’Bryan, along with most of us, knew that The Pink represents much more than just another bar. The bank I worked for prior to The Pink closing, financed
Our local businesses are coming back. Paul, Alain, Diz, and the Rio Take
2 (or is it Take 3?) have really made Lucy’s a comfortable neighborhood breakfast destination. Fern’s Market is still coming along and hopefully will open shortly. On the other end of the timeline is, of course, The Pink. Having The Pink reopened will put Monte Rio back on the map. All that will still be missing is the Rio Theater. Let’s hope this is the year for all our businesses to thrive.
The Pink because I believed in it then, as I s
s
t
t
i
i
l
l
l
l
d
d
o
o
.
It’s iconic, historical, a local gathering place
.
e
a
a
n
n
d
is some supercharged comedy with verve. Without saying too much about it, I’ll give you this: two ladies that share a room in a retirement home make a
bet that very quickly gets out of hand. Let’s just say that the photo below is not metaphorical (photo is of two older women strapped to each other skydiving). The cast, in particular the two leads, Kate Brickley and Laura Jorgenson, are all stellar. We are having a good time putting it together and I’m sure you’ll have an equally good time if you come see the show. Here’s the link for tickets: cinnabartheater.com/ripcord/.”
The Pink opened in 1937. It is known
as a historic roadside watering hole. You probably noticed the new siding and
new roof. The Pink will also have a large balcony out the back. Renovations should
a place that welcomed everyone. From the bikers to the Bohos, to the Sisters’ “Macy’s Monte Rio” fashion show with clothes from the former St Vincent de Paul thrift store next door.
,
be done soon and then the only thing left is
acquiring a liquor license. Not easy to obta
a
s
i
i
,
d
n
n
but Tom is persistent and if it takes the who
,
o
l
l
,
e
e
Our cutest little library in the world is expanding it’s hours! Starting Feb 3rd, it will be open 6 days a week (closed on Sun). Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat it will be open 10-2. On Tues and Thur open hours will be 1-5. It’s nice to see the proceeds from measure Y (1/8th cent sales tax increase passed in November of 2016) being put to a myriad of good uses throughout the Sonoma County Library system.
hamlet appearing at ABC in Sacramento, I’m sure we can arrange the buses. What do I love about Monte Rio? The vision to bring it back to some
If you haven’t been to Occidental’s branch in a while you should check it out. They expanded the space which allowed them to add a couple of comfy chairs for reading and a couple of computer terminals available to work on. They have a lot more than just books to check out these days as well. Music, movies, video games are all available. There is a rack of books for sale also. The friendly librarian was also telling me about the options open to card holders to stream movies, audio books, etc.
In other news, that reminds us of how short our time here is,
Lee Torr IV, a life-long Monte Rio resident, was laid to rest January 3rd at St Catherine’s where he was baptized as an infant. He was only 63 and had been battling declining health. He was a third-generation real estate agent. Lee served on the Monte Rio Chamber of Commerce for several years
and was always active in supporting the community. I knew Lee to be a genuinely warm and gentleman. My condolences to Michele, Brian, and the rest of the Torr family, who we all owe so much gratitude to.
One of my favorite local hiking trails is being over-run by fir tree seedlings. While hiking it the other day I came up with a fun idea that I call my 20/20 plan for 2020. I will hike the trail at least 1 time per month for this whole year. Each time, on the way out I will pull (or clip) 20 of these little firs and on the way back I will do the same. It’s easy and doesn’t take hardly any extra time. The first time around didn’t seem like much but when you do the math the yearly plan will add up to 480 firs removed – which will I think make a pretty significantly positive impact on the trail. I mention this because we all have ideas that seem big and daunting at first but when broken down into smaller pieces can be much more manageable (and even fun) to implement. I encourage you to get out there and do it!
In fire parcel tax news, low-value parcels, which are generally parcels that are not developable, should have been exempted from our new fire
tax. Unfortunately, they weren’t. Now the issue becomes how do they get exempted? One side says the fire department (taxing authority) can exempt the parcels, but the fire department says we will need a new mail-in election in March to exempt them. Contiguous parcels, which are exempted by other districts, are also another issue that hasn’t been well addressed. Stay tuned.
semblance of its heyday. And unless we’re rebuilding a seven-story hotel downtown, raise your glass because The Pink is our ticket! Thank you, Tom.
Lastly, Monte Rio Supper Club returns the first Mondays of the month. Friendsofmonterio.org for details.
Vacation Wonderland, we just keep getting better.
42 - www.sonomacountygazette.com - 2/20