Longtime Mill Valley photographer Barbara Hazen’s daughter asked her a seemingly innocuous question that proved more complicated to answer than she’d imagined.

The result was Hazen’s latest photo exhibit, “Perfectly Imperfect,” an exploration into Hazen’s personal feelings about feminine beauty and identity.

“My answer was that I felt that I was ‘perfectly imperfect,’ because beauty comes from within,” Hazen says. “I feel that beauty is far more complicated than our physical selves, but rather includes our mental, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social selves as well. This is what I wanted to capture in photographs of women--their inner beauty emerging out of their physical body. The strata of light in these silhouettes are a metaphor for the ephemeral layers and illusions of what we look like and what we imagine, or wish we looked like. Beauty is a personal and private journey for every woman to learn to live in her own skin, letting social expectations fall away, allowing her own sense of beauty and individuality to emerge.”

Hazen is exhibiting her “Perfectly Imperfect” work at the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center throughout May, including both the opening weekend of Marin Open Studios (May 2-3) and the First Tuesday Artwalk (May 5).

The Blithedale Canyon resident is in the midst of a second life of sorts in photography. She first picked it up in 2002, but camera-wielding often took a back seat over the next decade as Hazen, a former pastry chef at Postrio who trained at the California Culinary Academy, raised three kids and tried to launch her own retail business. In early 2008, she launched Sables Gourmet Cookie Dough, selling high-quality pre-packaged cookie dough in dozens of stores like Whole Foods and Mollie Stone's.

Hazen closed Sables in 2010 and found herself immediately drawn back to photography.

Enrique Cubillo, an entrepreneur, endurance athlete and photographer, hopes the 94941’s cyclists, standup paddleboarders and skiers are drawn to his innovation.

Men in spandex making their way up Mount Tam is a ubiquitous sight in Mill Valley.

But while cyclists climbing Tam draw nary a glance, the way Enrique Cubillo made the 2,574-foot ascent last week drew a smattering of double takes, guffaws and even a shout of, “you’re a superhero!”

In just under one hour and 40 minutes, Cubillo, an entrepreneur, standup paddleboarder, endurance athlete and photographer who lives in New York and spends time in Mill Valley, scaled Tam by spikeboarding, his innovative combination of the mechanics of standup paddleboarding and cross-country skiing atop a specialized long skateboard.

Cubillo enlisted local resident Rudy Bishop to chronicle his trek with a GoPro camera on the back of his motorcycle.

“I first said to myself, ‘he’ll never make it,’” Bishop says. “It just didn’t seem possible. But that guy (stand up spiked) all the way up Mt. Tam! I thought my motorcycle was going to blow up, and here he rides to the top on a skateboard. It would’ve killed me.”

Cubillo says the key ingredient, other than great fitness and a strong core, is his SkateBoard Spike, which looks a bit like a Nordic ski pole that allows the user to spike with one hand while switch kicking with the other. The carbon fiber pole is rounded rubber at the top, allowing it to rotate like a ball in the hand as the user switches it from side to side like a paddleboard paddle.

Spikeboarding has two different strokes: Cubi-X-Cross, which allows users to switch back and forth between the traditional kick of a skateboard, and Stand Up Spike, in which the participant just uses the pole, alternating sides like a standup paddleboarder.

“I think this sport will explode,” Cubillo says. “I hope people understand the significance of (his stand up spike ascent of Tam). It’s like the first time a mountain bike descended Mount Tam. Suddenly, there is a new core sport.”

Cubillo wants to find early adopters of spikeboarding in Mill Valley and Marin that will help him propel the sport to the next level. To do so, he made himself a human billboard of sorts throughout Marin in the third week of April, spikeboarding in Tiburon, Belvedere, San Anselmo, San Francisco – he even turned downtown Mill Valley into his own little criterium loop of sorts, dazzling passers-by in doing so.

The closest thing to spikeboarding is Nordic roller skating, in which participants are on roller skates and use a pair of ski poles to propel themselves up hills as needed. Cubillo says the physiology of spikeboarding, in which participants switch the paddle back and forth like on a paddleboard, gives the body some respite that “double poling” does not. Cubillo says the spikeboarding spike allows the user to transfer more power through the pole than you can through double poling.

Cubillo says he arrived at his creation of spikeboarding while dealing with his own endurance sports travails. The former Category II bike racer had issues with circulation in his feet and hands and was told he needed to do more weight-bearing exercise.

“Don’t be the guy doing 10,000 miles a year and that’s it,” he says, noting that he first came up with the idea for spikeboarding in 2010.

“I formulated the entire sport within three weeks,” he says.

As Cubillo made his way up the last few hundred meters of Mt. Tam last week, rough pavement and a steep grade pushed him to the limit.

"In spikeboarding, your muscles will blow up before your anaerobic will blow up," he says. “It’s the feeling of having run a marathon but your whole upper body is numb." 

“I still can’t believe he did it,” Bishop says.

Cubillo hopes spikeboarding can catch on in Mill Valley, going so far as to pony up a $1,000 prize to anyone who can top the time of his Tam ascent. He plans to host spikeboarding workshops and training sessions in Mill Valley, and wants those interested in spikeboarding to call him at (917) 566-3386. More info.

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Artists across Mill Valley are set to showcase their work as part of the opening Marin Open Studios weekend (May 2-3, 11am - 6pm), including individual artist studios all over town and shows at the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, the Mill Valley Lumber Yard, the Depot Bookstore & Cafe and Julie Tuton Boutique.

The two-weekend Marin Open Studios event, a free, self-guided art tour, kicks off May 2. Local artists include former WIGT Printing co-owner and longtime Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival participant Barry Toranto, as well as Irene Belknap, who displayed her art at the Chamber in April. 

At the Chamber & Visitor Center (85 Throckmorton Ave.), Mill Valley photographer Barbara Hazen is showing her most recent work, the black-and-white "Perfectly Imperfect," as well some photos from her acclaimed Grant Street exhibit.

At the Lumber Yard, home to the Ambatalia textile shop, Guideboat Company and floral designer Bloomingayle's, a quintet of artists – Mark Schatz, Elizabeth Wayman, BJ Thrailkill, Mark Monsarrat and Carol Ann Allen are all exhibiting their work.

Mill Valley Lumber Yard owners Matt and Jan Mathews, who bought the 120-year-old property in 2012, said they are excited to participate in the Marin Open Studios this year.

“One of our goals is to include local artists in community-centered events at the lumber yard,” Jan Mathews said.” Art is a huge part of the culture of Mill Valley, and we want to celebrate that fact.”

Marin Open Studios, now in its 22st year, is an annual self-guided art tour throughout Marin. Art patrons, admirers, and collectors can venture out to see more than 270 artists and their artworks and gain a glimpse into the life of the working artist organizers said.

Marin Open Studios co-founder Kay Carlson said Marin residents have a strong passion for the arts, which is a gift that keeps giving back to the culture of Marin.

“I had a vision that Marin artists could become visible to the community and one another by exhibiting their artwork,” Carlson said. “I am proud to be a part of more than 270 artists this year who are sharing their unique creative perspective.”

Plan your Marin Open Studios tour with an Artist Guide that includes a driving map, a bicycle map, highlights and images of artist’s works. Visit the Marin Open Studios website for digital version for the guide as well as a list of locations where guides are available.

Each of the participating artists has one piece of their works on display at a preview gallery exhibition in the Bon Air Center in Greenbrae.

Here are a host of resources to help you plan your Open Studios Tour:

• Gallery Exhibition - A great starting point for your Marin Open Studios Tour!
  
• Printed MOS Tour Guide and Map (available as an insert in the May issue of Marin Magazine or at the MOS Gallery Exhibition)
  
• Online MOS Tour Guide
  
• Online MOS Map
  
• Online Art Gallery with information on all participating MOS artists

The Throckmorton Theatre plays host to Bay Area Latin music royalty Saturday night as Pete Escovedo and His Latin Jazz Ensemble take the stage.

Escovedo, who celebrates his 80th birthday on July 13, has been a fixture in the Latin rock, jazz and fusion scenes for decades, performing with the likes of Carlos Santana, Tito Puente and his star-studded Escovedo family, which includes his daughter Sheila E, who is best known as the drummer and musical director for Prince for many years. Escovedo and Sheila E performed at the White House for President Barack Obama twice in the past six years.

Born in Pittsburg in the East Bay, Escovedo came up in the booming Latin jazz scene of the 1950s, with Pete and his brothers Phil and Coke forming The Escovedo Brothers Band and playing the thriving collection of clubs in the Bay Area. Escovedo gained acclaim for his work as a sideman with Carlos Santana, his leadership of the big band Azteca, his fusion jazz collaboration with Billy Cobham, and his role as a front man in the Pete Escovedo Latin Jazz Orchestra.

Check out some of Escovedo's performances below. More info and buy tickets.

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From the City of Mill Valley:

2015 Evacuation Drill
Date: 5/9/2015 10am–12pm
Location: Blithedale Canyon and Middle Ridge neighborhoods 

Are You Prepared to Evacuate at a Moments Notice?

On Saturday, May 9, the City of Mill Valley is conducting its annual emergency evacuation drill – a landmark local event that has helped propel Mill Valley’s emergency preparedness efforts to widespread acclaim. This annual drill helps first responders assess the issues that may arise if such an evacuation became necessary due to a disaster, such as an earthquake or a wildland fire on Mount Tamalpais.

The area that will be the focus of the evacuation drill is the Blithedale Canyon and Middle Ridge neighborhoods. Residents in these neighborhoods will receive a letter in the next couple of weeks with instructions on how to participate. At 10:00am on May 9, 2015, our emergency sirens will activate alerting residents to evacuate to the designated check-in location at the parking lot of Mt. Carmel Church. A Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS) message will be sent to all who have signed up for this valuable service. Once at the check-in, participants will be asked to complete an evacuation survey form.

Emergency information and demonstrations will be provided by our community emergency partners, the Red Cross, Marin Humane Society, Whistlestop Wheels, Marin Municipal Medical Corps and the Mill Valley Emergency Preparedness Commission.

For more information on the 2015 Mill Valley Evacuation Drill, please visit the following links:

Click here to view the neighborhood letter describing the drill 
Click here to sign up for the Telephone Emergency Notification System (TENS) 
Click here for more emergency preparedness information

The City of Mill Valley values the opinions of our community members and appreciates any feedback regarding this evacuation drill. In addition to offering an evacuation evaluation form at check in, we are also offering an online evaluation form. If you would like to provide comments on your experience with the drill please click here.

For further questions, please contact Mill Valley Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Barnes at (415) 389-4139 or evacuation@cityofmillvalley.org.

The Mill Valley Public Library is ready to host a groundbreaking ceremony for its innovative SmartGarden on Friday, May 1 at 5pm in the small redwood grove adjacent to the Library (the entrance to the Amphitheater pathway). The event is free and open to the public.

SmartGarden is the Library’s latest endeavor to provide opportunities for experiential learning, building on the success of the Fire Department’s fire resistive garden. SmartGarden is a demonstration garden intended to educate the community about rain water harvesting and water-wise gardening techniques using native plants. The Library will offer workshops to community members to learn how to apply these practices at their own home. 

Mayor Ken Wachtel will be present at the groundbreaking with shovel in hand to help break ground. Library officials promise plenty of fun for everyone, including activities for kids with a May Day theme. Refreshments will be served including lemonade and cookies.

Library officials hope SmartGarden inspires the local community to take advantage of the benefits of harvesting water and creating a sustainable native garden. Small changes in people’s backyards can collectively have a huge impact on the preservation of our local environment.

The initial response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive. Many people have already contributed their time and ideas to the project. Geoff Hall and Kamala Bennett of Sentient Landscape, along with local water expert Apryl Uncapher designed the SmartGarden using the principles of sustainable gardening.  Iris Landscaping from Novato was chosen to install the garden. Installation will start the first week in May and be completed by the end of June.

"The SmartGarden on the grounds of the Mill Valley Public Library exemplifies a true community partnership,” City Manager Jim McCann said.  “From promoting the importance of native plants, sustainability and water management to working with school groups and gardening enthusiasts of all ages, the SmartGarden is an opportunity for the entire community to participate. We are enormously proud of the Mill Valley Public Library and the staff for their leadership and cutting edge work in creating the SmartGarden."

The project is the vision of Kristen Clark, the Library’s Operation Manager, and is partially funded by a Pitch an Idea Grant from the California State Library Association. The grant, along with some private donations, is helping to fund the first two phases of the project. The Library is seeking additional contributions and in-kind donations to complete phases three and four, which would include more garden beds, showcase a wider array of native plants, and demonstrate additional features like flow forms.

For more information about the SmartGarden, including how to get involved with or contribute to the effort, contact Kristen Clark at kclark@cityofmillvalley.org. Residents are also encouraged to visit the SmartGarden blog to see a full list of gardening-related events at the Library.

If you're looking for a reason to smile this weekend, head over to Boyle Park on Sunday (May 3) at 1:30pm.

That's where Project Awareness and Special Sports (PAASS), which pairs local young athletes and kids with special needs for organized baseball and basketball games, is hosting a coming-out party of sorts. PAASS, originally known as Challenger Baseball and Basketball, is "hoping to take this day as an opportunity to raise awareness and support among the Mill Valley community for our program and players," according to Tyler Barbee, a Tam High senior and the organization's founder.

The main event is a pair of games  played by the Mill Valley Challenger Red Sox, one of the program's baseball teams. NBC Bay Area will be on hand filming a piece about PAASS and its programs, and PAASS will be distributing info about its programs.

Barbee founded PAASS in 2014 as an outgrowth of the Challenger League, an organized program started in 2009 by longtime local resident Janet Miller, Barbee's mom, through Mill Valley Little League. The program pairs kids with special needs and a desire to play organized sports with “buddies” – primarily high school and middle school athletes – to assist them. The idea, she said, was quite simple: give kids with special needs the same chance to participate in organized sports. Miller and Barbee have also worked with San Rafael-based Autistry Studios, a pre-vocational program, to spread the word about the potential benefits of hiring someone with special needs.

The games themselves put smiles on the faces of all involved, from the children with special needs getting a chance to play sports and the volunteer athletes giving back to their community to attendees who get to revel in the heartwarming interactions.


"There is nothing sweeter and richer than to experience the joy of the players hitting the ball and running the bases or the interaction between the "buddies" and players as they both work to learn from each other and create a community," Miller says.

More info on PAASS.

252 cigarette butts (Yes, we counted).

That's what a small group of volunteers from the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce​ picked up off the streets and sidewalks of downtown Mill Valley on April 25 as part of the City of Mill Valley and Mill Valley Recreation's annual Beautification Day. With dozens of volunteers turning out to clean up at Boyle and Freeman parks for the City's "It's MY Park Day," the Chamber volunteers focused on downtown.

On the heels of Clean Mill Valley's cleanup of the Depot Plaza on April 15, Chamber volunteers focused on the parking lots behind the stores on the first block of Miller Avenue, as well as the City Hall parking lot and surrounding streets and sidewalks.

The verdict? The dozens of Mill Valley shop owners who signed Clean Mill Valley's anti-litter pledge – spearheaded by Greenwood School's sixth graders – are standing by their pledge and keeping downtown clean. And though still a fledgling organization, Clean Mill Valley itself has been a massive success in both cleaning up our town and galvanizing others to do the same.

All that said, we have a question for smokers: What can residents, business owners and our local officials do to make sure those butts go in the trash? Let us know in the comments!

More than three years after realizing her childhood dream of owning a retail bakery in downtown Mill Valley, Beth Setrakian is moving her Beth’s Community Kitchen shop from 34 Miller Avenue to Bolinas, where she lives.

The move is effective in May, when Setrakian plans to open a shop in downtown Bolinas, and Karen Goldberg, owner of Tamalpie Pizzeria and the soon-to-open Playa in the former Champagne space, plans to open Bonbon, a bakery and ice cream, candy, treats and panini sandwich shop.

“Having Beth's Community Kitchen in downtown Mill Valley for the past three years has been a dream come true,” Setrakian says. “And while I’m moving my retail shop closer to our home in Bolinas, I hope to continue to be able to serve my wonderful Mill Valley regulars with their favorite baked goods."

Goldberg says she connected with Setrakian through mutual friends and heard about her interest in working closer to her home in Bolinas.

“She’s got a heart of gold,” Goldberg says.

Of Bonbon, Goldberg says she plans to open the shop in the coming week.

“Ever since Baskin Robbins closed, I’ve felt like Mill Valley needed an ice cream sundae shop,” she says, describing Bonbon as a mix of popular San Francisco shops like Miette, Tartine Bakery, Dillon’s Candy Bar and Twirl and Dip.

Setrakian’s career in the food business dates back to the early 1980s, when her friend and fellow Stanford grad Judy Rodgers, the late owner owner and chef at Zuni Café in San Francisco, helped her land a job as the pastry chef at the Fourth Street Grill in Berkeley. Setrakian wowed owner Mark Miller, a Chez Panisse alum like Rodgers, with her pecan tart, which has become her signature treat.

After a pastry production stint at Il Fornaio, Setrakian married Kentfield painter Rob Setrakian, got pregnant with their first child Nicholas and moved to West Marin. She started making wedding cakes and selling pies to places like the Olema Inn.

“That grew into a pretty nice business,” said Setrakian, a native of Prairie View, Texas. “But I wouldn’t do wedding cakes again because it’s too stressful. It was really fun but you cannot be a second late – you’re dealing with bride-zillas.”

The young family then moved to Italy for a year and a half, taking in the art and food in a country that worships both. Upon their return, Setrakian, with a newborn and a toddler at home, eschewed job offers and decided to go back to doing her own thing, starting with those pecan tarts.

She sold about 500 of them to companies to give as corporate gifts inside film cannisters, using the kitchens of friends and family all over West Marin to bake them.

“It was scary – I was running all over the place,” she said.

Two months later, the “St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” ensued, which saw Setrakian landing a gig to make heart-shaped Italian desserts for a restaurant in San Francisco. The order kept growing, which sent Rob Setrakian driving over the Golden Gate Bridge multiple times to deliver additional orders.

“He’s always been such a good sport, but at that point, he said, ‘Enough,’” she said. “He said, ‘Let’s find you a place to do this and not in our kitchen.’”

They found Kitchens Inc., a commercial kitchen on Kerner Blvd. in San Rafael that served as an incubator of sorts for a number of food businesses. Setrakian’s business then began to blossom with cookies, landing deals with a number of grocery stores (her cookies can currently be found in Mill Valley Market, Bi-Rite and Berkeley Bowl, among others). But throughout Setrakian’s years of supplying retailers and restaurants with her tasty treats, she harkened back to her freshman year in college, when she spent the summer taking classes at Columbia University and selling cookies at the Henri Bendel store.

“I found an old journal from then and I had written about how all I wanted was to have my own little bakery,” she said.

She started looking in Mill Valley about five years ago and learned that Lester Hubbard, the owner of Valley Security & Tool at 34 Miller, was looking to close and sell the building. She wasn’t able to ink a deal with him then, but later signed a lease with eventual buyer the Keil Estate Company, opening her Beth’s Community Kitchen in late 2011.

Stay tuned for more info on Bonbon and Beth’s new shop in Bolinas.