Forestville the Good Life by Lucy Hardcastle — February — 2020
If you love living in a small community, you’re in the right place. If you choose, you can easily connect to those who share your neighborhood. As a MAC representative (Municipal Advisory Council member for our 5th District Supervisor) I’m learning how many community groups exist in our town. Groups who care about one another, band together and find solutions to challenges. A lot of these groups have fun too!
One community that comes to mind stretches from Hacienda Bridge along Scenic Road and on to Martinelli. They host lots of parties, meetings, table tennis tournaments, BBQs and on the last Sunday of the month make delicious brunches. You guessed it, the neighborhood around the Hollydale Club. Folks in that area have been celebrating at their Club for over 70 years. For a real treat mark your calendar for Saturday, February 8, at 6 pm to attend a good old- fashioned authentic Russian Dinner. They will be serving Russian Zkuski, BBQ Shaslik Kabobs, Russian Salads and fancy desserts made by the Clubs Russian families and friends. All for only $20. The good news is, you don’t have to live in that neighborhood to come! All are welcome. Look for their famous Corned Beef and Cabbage feed March 14.
One important group of community folks are our seniors. Did you know any senior can eat lunch for free on the 3rd Wednesday of the month? That free lunch takes place at the Methodist Church. The Council on Aging provides senior lunches every Tuesday, also at the Church. If you are a senior, 55 and older, they invite you to join them. Check it out! We are lucky the Methodist Church is willing to host so many community events at their place.
For our community of adolescents, don’t lose hope. The Forestville Skate Park is busy behind the scenes applying for their own nonprofit status. Their mission is to build a safe, inclusive space where skateboarders, roller bladder’s, scooter and bmx bike riders can practice their sport and encourage one another while their community cheers them on. We appreciate their dedication and they appreciate all the guidance, direction and hands on help they have received from our own Youth Park Board. Check out their progress at fvsk8spot@gmail.com
A big shout out to our local Chamber of Commerce for producing a fabulous Crab Feed last month to support our business community. It was fun for all, including the El Molino students who served up tons of crab to hungry Forestvillians. A big thanks to Wendi Flowers, Chamber President for pulling it all together. Her team went all out to create a delicious meal, have great raffle items to win and exciting live auction items to bid on. Sheriff Mark Essick read the lucky numbers and served as auctioneer. Denise Wood and Gwen Trappe cooked up yummy pesto pasta and tossed some Cesar Salad to compliment the meal. Wendi says thanks to all the local wineries who contributed to its success.
And one last connection to community is the literal one we are getting to the West County Trail. If you have taken a walk through the Downtown Oaks Park lately you’ve seen the progress the Parks and Recreation Department is making on building an elevated walkway through the marsh that shows up each and every winter, Just think, this could be the last year of mud along our trail. Thank you the Forestville Planning Association for hanging in there year after year, paying for study after study and jumping through the hoops that come with applying for a use permit. The latest drawings are beautiful. Soon we will be reaching out to the community to fund the next steps. If you ask me, we are lucky we were able to get such a lovely space for the town for decades to come. Now it’s up to us to take care of it and hold it for those who come after. That’s what community does.
