Super eats for Super Bowl

The ultimate tailgate party of the year kicks off this Sunday — Super Bowl XLVIII — so it's time to huddle if you're playing kitchen quarterback.

Here's one possible game plan: For the first half, prepare your favorite appetizers, light finger foods like guacamole and chips. Then get down to business at halftime with a hearty spread of pulled pork sliders and barbecued ribs.

To officiate at the feast, we consulted with chef/owner Jeff Young of Twist Eatery in Forestville, a lifelong Niners fan and devoté of barbecued pork.

The Pulled Pork Sandwich with a side of beet salad from Jeff Young, chef at Twist Eatery in Forestville. Young is known for his savory sandwiches. He tops the Pulled Pork with housemade barbecue sauce. (JOHN BURGESS / The Press Democrat)

Read full article in The Press Democrat

Tasting the wines from our Winemakers to Watch

You may have read about our Winemakers to Watch for 2014, but what about the wines?

Here’s a sampling of bottles from each of them. Many of these are in limited supply, but can be found in local retail shops or by contacting the wineries directly....

Megan and Ryan Glaab, Ryme Cellars

2012 Ryme Hers Las Brisas Vineyard Carneros Vermentino ($24, 11.2%): Not to overlook the His (it was in last year’s Top 100 Wines), but the Hers shows a nuanced side: Douglas fir, bright mineral, lemon confit and a slight lanolin aspect, with peachy fruit to round it out.

Ryan and Megan Glaab of Ryme Cellars, at the counter of their Forestville winery facility. (Photo: Lacy Atkins/The Chronicle)

Read full article at SFGate.com

Sonoma County Water Agency's Water Education Program

Water Education Program Specialist Ryan Pedrotti of the Sonoma County Water Agency closes the window blinds at the Water Education Program's Russian River Field Study Site in Forestville, Calif., on Jan. 21, 2014. The Sonoma County Water Agency seeks approval for plans to build a new education facility and replace the aging temporary building where several thousand fifth-graders learn about the water system each year. (Alvin Jornada / The Press Democrat)

Read full article in The Press Democrat
View slideshow  in The Press Democrat

"Celebrate Open Space" Community Breakfast

Hollydale Community Clubhouse "Celebrate Open Space" Community Breakfast...Sunday Morning January 26th from 9:00AM until Noon, featuring Eggs Benedict and the Hashbrowns. Help the Clubhouse start the New Year off with this celebratory breakfast in honor of the newly acquired Forestville downtown open space park!!

via Facebook

El Molino High School fights declining enrollment

Supporters of El Molino High School in Forestville are continuing their drive to stop declining enrollment and develop a turnaround strategy to draw students to the Covey Road campus.

A community meeting Wednesday night to discuss strategies drew about 100 people to the campus library where supporters suggested creating magnet science, arts or agriculture programs, bolstering public outreach and bringing community members to campus in mentor and support functions....

Read full article in The Press Democrat

El Molino High's declining enrollment concerning district

Declining enrollment at El Molino High School in Forestville will be the focus of a special West Sonoma High School District board meeting Wednesday.

El Molino currently has 604 students, down from 1,099 in the 2003-04 school year, according to district data. In that period, the district’s other comprehensive high school, Analy in Sebastopol, has had its enrollment decrease just slightly, from 1,394 to 1,369 students. Analy has gained students every year since 2009-10.

Read full article in The Press Democrat

Survey for Downtown Open Space Park

On November 15, 2013, the Forestville Planning Association was able to purchase the downtown parkland with donations from our community and matching funds from the Open Space Parks District. ...


Now that we have the land, we need to get to work on the plans for the park and town square.

Tell us what you would like to see in the new downtown park. Please add your suggestions  in the Add Your Comments form at the Forestville Planning Association

Novato's Fresh Starts Cooking School offers Italian cooking class Jan. 23

The Fresh Starts Cooking School is offering an Italian cooking class, "Taste of Tuscany with Canneti Roadhouse," at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 23 at the school, 1385 N. Hamilton Parkway.

Chef Francesco Torre of Canneti Roadhouse Italiana in Forestville will offer a three-course menu featuring locally grown ingredients.

To reserve a spot in the $55 class, register online at http://bit.ly/1cyoWEO or call 382-3363, ext. 243.

Read full post at marinij.com

Sonoma County’s Flu Victim, ‘Matty’ Walker, Was Just 23

When he posed for a Facebook picture in his hospital room on December 26th, Matthew “Matty” Walker of Santa Rosa thought he had pneumonia. It turns out it was much more serious: the H1N1 flu virus.

Doctors tried to save him. But he never recovered. He died Wednesday at the age of 23.
Walker was a graduate of El Molino High School in Forestville. He was an avid skateboarder and musician who played the harmonica and saxophone and worked two jobs.

Read full article at CBS San Francisco

Ava June Wilson: 1924-2013

Ava June Wilson, much loved teacher, artist, sister, aunt and 63-year resident of St. Helena, passed on peacefully in her sleep of natural causes on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at the age of 89. Family was at her side...

Ava is survived by two sisters, Hazel Coward of Antioch, Calif., and Frances Coburn of Los Altos, Calif.; nieces, Donna Vallin of San Francisco, and Janet Coburn of Waimea, Hawaii; nephews, Robert Justo-Coward of Redding, Calif., Russell Coburn of Avon, Colo., Gary Colliver of El Portal, Calif., Ray Colliver of Mariposa, Calif., Dennis Colliver of Los Molinos, Calif., George Sessions of Forestville, Calif., and Richard Sessions of Portland, Ore. Her husband, Derby; eldest sister, Ruth Kent; and elder brother, Grant Colliver, preceded her in death.

Read full obituary in The Weekly Calistogan

Being resolute

With the new year just starting, it's traditional to make resolutions, and there's more than one way to approach that task.

You could promise to give up your favorite guilty pleasures, at the risk of losing your resolve by February.

Or you could set impossibly ambitious goals — founding your own sovereign nation in some remote part of the world, for example....

Karen Lockert, a Forestville artist, set her sights on making every day count....

Out for a walk, Karen Lockert of Forestville pauses to enjoy the view of the Russian River from the Hacienda Bridge. Lockert's goals for the upcoming year include taking more walks, cooking healthy food, and enjoying the scenery. (CHRISTOPHER CHUNG / The Press Democrat)

Read full article in The Press Democrat

North Coast makes most of unseasonably dry, warm weather

Saturday was another ridiculously gorgeous one across the North Coast, where spring-like temperatures sent people flocking to parks, the beach or almost anywhere the generous sun shined....

“We'll do the rain dance tomorrow,” Amanda Hamner of Forestville said at Howarth Park.

Read full article in The Press Democrat