Page 42 - Sonoma County Gazette - January 2020

Happy New Year and New Decade everyone! I hope your Holidays were fun, festive, familial, and not too fattening.
Happy New Year!
May the new year and new decade bring an end to the darkness we have been experiencing on many levels the past few years. I’m optimistic that changes this year will get us back on track to where we need to be. Adversity, however, does make us stronger and more determined. Monte Rio has such a rich history and so much potential. What will it take to get us there again? Who is committed to joining the effort? While Rio Nido and Villa Grande have strong neighborhood groups, Monte Rio’s needs your help. We need to re-energize this town while treating each other with respect and civility despite differences in opinion.
I just looked back at the previous two years of January columns I have written for the Gazette. 2018 I was promoting an event I had signed up to participate
in called Climate Ride. In 2019, I highlighted efforts to raise funding for the replacement of the gym floor at the Community Center.
As we turn the page to another new year, I have definitely been thinking about the need for more exercise in my life. I play basketball once a week (Tuesdays
at 5:30pm at the Occ Community Center – open to all) and get a fair amount
of walking/hiking in with my dog, but I could certainly use more exercise in general. I realized in reading that column from 2018 that I only took two bike rides the entirety of 2019, sad. It’s always amazing how with the combination
of time flying by and constant distractions coming along that I can neglect something like bike riding that I get so much enjoyment out of that also happens to burn calories along the way.
What would you like to see happen here? Maybe some thriving businesses, like the Pink reopened? More outdoor music concerts? Better and more responsive services from our county government? We are at a better place than we were a few years ago, but let’s put Monte Rio firmly back on the map for our residents, businesses, and tourists.
The January 2019 column focus has thankfully come to fruition. The new gym floor is great, much improved over the tired, old floor it replaced. We just had another successful craft faire in the Community Center last month and the new floor made it through unscathed. I wasn’t really worried about it going in, but I would say twenty vendors (with tables and chairs) and hundreds of attendees all on the floor was a really good test of it’s resiliency. When you spend forty grand on something there is a little stress involved even when it wasn’t much of your own money making the purchase. Many thanks to all the donors who made it possible, with an extra large shout-out to the Bothin Foundation who put us over the top with their donation last year of twenty thousand dollars.
Fern’s Market is looking great. Having the Rio Café serving at Lucy’s
will be awesome. Ed Brochu’s work on landscaping the Triangle is another example of what was needed and accomplished. These are people with the right vision and the determination to make it happen and to make a difference.
I know there are efforts in the process with the county to move forward on upgrading the bathrooms at the community center. The upgrades would bring the bathrooms into ADA compliance, add exterior entrances to provide the town with it’s first permanent public restroom, as well as include a water fountain. Hopefully these will be something that can get completed in 2020, fingers crossed.
Christmas or Holiday lights here anymore. This is one small example of what can be done if people are committed to do it. Everyone has a passion for something. If that’s your passion join a committee, shed some light, and make the difference.
As I mentioned previously the Occidental Craft Faire in December was a success once again, thanks to all the vendors, volunteers and to the community at large for coming to shop, eat, mingle and enjoy a fun local event. Now, we at the Occidental Community Council get to figure out where around town the money raised from the Craft Faire should be spent. We are always happy to have input and/or help from local residents who would like to get involved or have a good idea of a local need to pass on to us.
I’ve seen many pictures of Monte Rio in its heyday, but last month I saw some I hadn’t seen before. One was a Press Democrat article from May 1931 “Johnny’s Casino at Monte Rio Opens”. The article discussed the formal grand opening, the featured live musicians, the “dance and dine” club, and I counted 38 congratulatory ads from local businesses. Can you imagine? From Monte Rio hotels to Monte Rio bakery, Monte Rio grocery stores, hardware stores, meat markets, Bartlett & Son General Merchandise (Monte Rio and Camp Meeker), and Ellen Starrett. Johnny’s Casino was located at the downtown end of the old Monte Rio bridge and later was known as the Beach Club.
You can send us an e-mail through our website (occidental-ca.org), or come to one of our meetings which are generally the third Saturday of the month at 10:30am at the Community Center (January’s meeting will be held on Saturday the 11th).
North Shore Railroad had great ads for Monte Rio Park lots (1902) and The North Shore Land Co had ads for the Monte Rio Addition (1905), “Sunny Summer Homes, with pure, soft spring water piped to every lot“.
Love some of the quotes: Every lot faces the river and views therefrom are unsurpassed in the Russian River District. A project is now on foot to
I was really intrigued by the new Occidental Holiday Weekend event that has been created around the Craft Faire and Community Choir events. It started in 2018 with a tree lighting, live music, & shops open late. This year it expanded to include a lighted people parade of carolers from the Community Center up to town, and Santa cruising up to the tree lighting on one of our Occidental Fire Department trucks, super cool. Someone at the Craft Faire asked me if this was an annual tradition and I replied “I think it will be.” Remember when the Fools Parade or Farmers Market were just getting started? They have both grown in size over the years and also grown into wonderful traditions for our town. I love how an event can be born from a good idea, and some dedicated effort and all of a sudden you think “how did we not have this before?” I look forward to seeing what great things can become of this new Occidental Holiday Weekend tradition. It sure is nice to have both lanes of Coleman Valley Rd. open again. I give thanks to the County for making this a priority and hope that their efforts will pay off in the form of this fix being a long lasting solution.
dam the river at Duncans Mills which will allow a steamboat to Guerneville. When this is accomplished no place in California will compare with the Russian River District as a place of summer residence. Lots sold for $50-$150 with homes valued from $150-$1,000, but most were valued around $300. A few homes have been built so substantially they would be available for use at all seasons (really?). And the best feature: In their interior arrangement, special efforts have been made to secure convenience for the housewife! Yes, Monte Rio had it all and we can again. Thanks to Joe Maguire for finding and sharing this brochure.
Last month several people wondered why we have so little
Got any ideas or suggestions for the greater good of Monte Rio?
Want to get involved in making a difference in Monte Rio? Send me an email at chram@aol.com
Wishing You a Great New Year! Vacation Wonderland, We Just Keep Getting Better.
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