Occidental Oriented by Gino Gaffney — October 2019

This time of year is always full of conflicting emotions for me.It is some of our best weather of the year, and yet we are losing minutes of daylight every day. My garden is still going strong, yet the farmers market is winding down for the year.

Last night my family celebrated my Mom’s birthday with dinner atFork. Fork is one of my two favorite restaurants in the County, tied with El Molcajete in Santa Rosa. Fork is on Bodega Highway between Freestone and Sebastopol, while El Molcajete is on College Ave. in the G&G (now Safeway) shopping center. The weather last night was gorgeous and we were able to sit out on the lovely back patio at Fork. String lights, bats, and stars overhead – local cod ceviche, rabbit & mushroom over creamy polenta and Moonlight Brewery Saison below. I love everything Fork does, check it out sometime. The Farmer’s Market finale is on October 25th, please come out to show your support each and every Friday. If you need more market info, want to make a donation or connect to their Instagram account, go to. www.occidentalcommunityfarmersmarket.com. The final market of the year will be a party similar to years past, including. Taiko Drummers, and Black Sheep Brass Band performing. In a new twist there will be a costume contest with the winner taking home a gift certificate to the soon to open. Altamont General Store! The Occidental Center for the Arts will be hosting the THUGZ on Halloween, Thursday the 31st from 7:30 – 10pm.Admission is $15 advance, $18 at the door. The THUGZ are purveyors of cosmic Americana and old-time psychedelic music, providing a fun time for all with their brand of original and classic jam rock. I have seen them many times over the years, and they always put on a good show. Plus, break out your costumes from the Farmers Market contest the week before as there will be a contest at the THUGZ show with a $250 cash prize going to the winner! I received a request for some publicity from a local who teaches an exercise class at the Occidental Community Center. As I have mentioned previously I am happy to include anything I deem column worthy that has been brought to my attention by a community member. So, while I haven’t taken her class myself, it is my pleasure to promote someone helping us to stretch our boundaries and strengthen our minds and bodies. Here’s some info from her directly. “My name is Danielle Cleary, I live in Freestone. I teach an exercise class called Strength and Stretch at the Occidental Community Center (YMCA). It’s on Monday and Wednesday mornings from 9 – 10am and only costs $5. I am trained and certified in several different exercise modalities. I am 61, and a grandmother. I thought about what my body needs at this time in my life, realizing I need to stay strong and limber. I needed to stop jumping around so much and over stressing my body with weights and high impact. As such, I put together a class that has no impact. We strengthen our muscles with bands and body weight, then I stretch out each muscle we’ve worked. We work on posture, core strength, balance, range of motion and flexibility. My motto is “use it or lose it.” The students in my class are usually in the 40-80 age range, with my most regularly attending being 82 years young. I love what I do and want to continue doing it at this price. Everyone tells me it is a great class and I’m an excellent teacher. I understand that during these months when the weather is so beautiful people would rather be outside. The problem for me is the numbers have dwindled so much that only 2 people came to class the other day.”

So hey there community, get out and get some exercise and help Danielle keep this good thing going. By now you have probably seen the signs around town for Measure C, the parcel tax measure on the ballot to fund our local fire department. I’m not going to tell you how to vote, but I certainly will encourage you to get informed on the subject and ask that you do please vote. Emergency protection for town (and the surrounding district) is a very important issue and the parcel tax will (or won’t) affect us into the future.

So, no matter how you feel about the issues we owe it to each other to get educated and exercise our right to vote. For more information go to: www.occidentalfire.com or www.friendsofoccidentalfire.org