Forestville The Good Life by Lucy Hardcastle - October 2018
Fall is my favorite time of year. Is it yours too? I love when the leaves turn and the vineyards glow in the sunset. Last Fall was pretty much wrecked with our horrendous October fires. Some who were impacted are recovering. Others never will. Next time you go outside, look around and
Stop in to say hello to the new owner at Nightingale Bakery, Jessica Frost. She’s worked side by side with Beth for over two years. After graduating from the JC Culinary Program her goal was to open her own bakery. Eight years later it’s happened. She is keeping all the favorites and just might introduce more goodies in the upcoming months. We are lucky to have this enchanting, and delicious, business right in our own downtown.
You’ll soon notice a new business downtown, Russian River Cyclery. Brian Borchers is realizing his goal of having a bike shop downtown after several years operating out of his place on Old River Road. Brian is the one who constructed that cool bike kiosk in the downtown park. He loves bikes, knows everything about them and did a great job servicing mine.
Have you noticed? Our own little Farmer’s Market is now closed for the season. Chamber President and Market Manager Wendy Flowers gives a huge thank you to all the vendors, musicians, the Chamber and to the FPA for the use of the space. And the Chamber thanks the shoppers who found great produce, oils and vinegars, breads, crafty stuff and yummy things to eat on Tuesday evenings throughout the summer. Let the rest of us give a huge Thank You to Wendy for pulling it all together. That woman is amazing!
I ran into Carmen Kozlowski recently and learned how she started making jam way back when. She moved to their Forestville property in the early 1950s. At the time her family grew apples but found it hard to make a living only getting $10 a ton. To use up all the fruit they couldn’t sell, she started making jam, and the rest is history. “Stay on top of the trends” is her business advice. It was she who figured out how to make low sugar jam using raspberry juice. I often take visitors there to do jam tastings. It’s a change from the usual wine tasting, and they love it. When you go, check out the photo of Carmen on the wall.
The Hollydale Club, our own little clubhouse in the forest, is hosting the Taylor Atkins Memorial ScholarshipFundraiser, October 13, starting at 5 pm. For $20 you’ll get a great meal and fun music fromDirty Dub Band and Vintage Modified. Kids under 10 are free! Money raised goes to Scholarships for our local high school students and boy do they appreciate it.
Art Trails Open Studios is coming up the weekends of October 13-14 and 20-21 with six Forestville artists participating. Check out Art Trails website to see their locations. Our local artists would love to see you and show off what they do.
Stop by Jim and Willies Antique shop in Duncan Mills if you’re headed to the Coast. Jim will be giving chances to win a Shirley Roberts painting, a phenomenal feather necklace and more with each $25 purchase. Be careful, you could spend hours looking at all the amazing, quirky and delightful things he has collected. Drawing takes place on Halloween. By the way, Jim is a Forestville resident!
Free Friday Movie Nights start up October 19th at the Methodist Church. Their first movie? One of my favorites of all time, Coco. It celebrates the rich culture, music and history around Day of the Dead. Doors open at 6:45 pm in the social hall. Remember this is free! And you can purchase refreshments as, after all, what’s a movie without popcorn?
Speaking of Day of the Dead, the American version, Halloween, is on its way. If you are looking for a costume, go no further than our own Forestville Pharmacy. Just walking in the door will get you inspired with amazing hats, masks and other spooky stuff. Go down the aisle to the left a little further and you’ll see the cutest, most creative knit hats. Seriously check them out. If I had the money, I’d buy them all… but that would mean having to get a job!
