​The City Council has unanimously voted to place a measure on the November 8th ballot to renew the 29 year-old Municipal Service Tax (MST), which pays for two major City ventures: wildfire prevention and road improvements.

The MST, first approved in 1987 and renewed twice since then, is currently $195 per single family residence. It generates approximately $1.2 million, with approximately $900,000 going toward critical road repairs and the remaining $300,000 funding the Mill Valley Fire Department's Vegetation Management Program.

The latter is a multi-faceted program that includes massive amounts of brush clearing as well as an app, a web video series, a demonstration garden and an accreditation program for neighborhoods, all designed to incentivize the creation of “defensible space” – that is, between 30 and 100 feet of removed or reduced brush, depending on the type of vegetation, the direction a structure faces and the severity of the slope on which it’s built.

The City Council adopted a resolution to set the new MST rate at $266 per single family residence with an annual adjustment of 2 percent to keep up with inflation.

“The safety of our community and improvement of our infrastructure are our top priorities,” Mayor John McCauley said. “The MST funds our acclaimed fire prevention and vegetation management program. It also provides a major source of locally controlled funding for road repairs. This group of community leaders is providing vital insight into how to continue to provide service in these crucial areas.”

Click here for more info on the City’s Vegetation Management Program and for a full list of its services. And here's more info on the City's Street and Sewer Rehabilitation program.

Organizers of the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival – set for Oct. 6-16 in Mill Valley and venues around Marin – have already announced a roster chock full of likely nominees for the 89th Academy Awards, and this week they revealed that their Opening Night films are two of the most star-studded, hotly anticipated films of the year: La La Land and Arrival. Both films are fresh from their Telluride and Venice Film Festival premieres and will make their Bay Area premieres at the MVFF39.

La La Land
In 2014, filmmaker Damien Chazelle screened his soon-to-be breakout film Whiplash at the 37th Mill Valley Film Festival, with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich serving as host of a post-screening Q&A session that lauded the then relative newcomer's achievement. Now Chazelle is back, this time with a musical that even musical haters will love. Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, the film tells the story of a struggling jazz musician and his actress girlfriend singing, dancing and wise-cracking their way through a love letter to dreamers, artists, Hollywood and filmmaking itself.

Stone and Chapelle are expected to attend the Oct. 6 screenings (7pm and 7:15pm) at the CineArts Sequoia Theatre in downtown Mill Valley, as well as the Opening Night Party at Marin Country Mart in Larkspur afterwards. 

Arrival
In award-winning director Denis Villeneuve’s (Sicario, Incendies) riveting and deeply thoughtful drama, five-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams is a brilliant linguistics professor on a journey that leads her across time and space, to discover the force that unites all sentient beings on our planet and any others that may exist: the power of communication.

Adams is expected to attend the Oct. 6th screening at 7pm at the Century Cinema in Corte Madera. 

Following the two films, MVFF39 kicks off this year’s festivities with an Opening Night Gala (9-12pm) at the Marin Country Mart with food Belcampo, Big Jim’s BBQ, El Huarache Loco, FarmShop, Fiorello’s, Gerard’s Paella, Johnny Donuts, Pizza Antica and Sol Food, beverages from Coppola Wines, Bartenders Unlimited, Lagunitas Brewing Company and Equator Coffee, and music from the Ethan Tucker Band and the Crackerjack DJs. 

​MORE INFO & TIX.

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The film festival customized for Mill Valley's adrenaline junkies, outdoor lovers and documentary film buffs arrives Sept. 15, as the Throckmorton Theatre's 5th Annual MountainFilm adventure and environmental documentary festival kicks off.

The event, which features more than 50 films plus guest speakers, discussion panels and parties kicks off with Opening Night Extravaganza featuring screenings of a series of shorts, highlighted by an appearance by Steve “Doom” Fassbinder, star of The Adventure Dispatch, which follows Fassbinder and a friend on "an adventure that combines tower climbing, narrows biking, canyon camping and rafting with the emptiness of landscapes that are too far off the beaten path for most people."

The 411: Throckmorton Theatre's 5th Annual MountainFilm Fest is Sept. 15-18. MORE INFO.​

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As the Mill Valley Library Foundation's Beyond the Book Bash on Sept. 30 draws near, organizers have added one of the Bay Area's literary luminaries to the lineup, nabbing Michael Krasny, host of KQED's award-winning "Forum" and bestselling author of “Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life”, “Sound Ideas” and “Spiritual Envy.” Krasny will sit down for a Q&A with Beyond the Book Bash emcee Chinaka Hodge, an award-winning poet, playwright, teacher and screenwriter. 

The event regularly draws upwards of 200 supporters of the Mill Valley Public Library and raises approximately $100,000 to support library programs, services and an endowment that will fund them in perpetuity. Go here for the full story on the Beyond the Book Bash, for which tickets are now on sale.

The 411: The Mill Valley Library Foundation's Beyond the Book Bash is Friday, September 30 at 8pm at the Throckmorton Theatre. Tickets go on sale September 6. MORE INFO.

The 7.5-mile course of the iconic Dipsea Race features sections named Insult Hill, Windy Gap, Cardiac, Suicide, and Dynamite, a reminder that there’s virtually no respite in America’s oldest trail race.

But while every section of the race is daunting, none can match the sheer spectacle of the 680 Dipsea Steps, one of Mill Valley’s greatest landmarks and the launch pad for hundreds of hikes, walks, races and jaunts from downtown to Mount Tam.

Over the past nine years, the 19-year-old Dipsea Race Foundation has sought to renovate those legendary steps, one flight at a time, as part of its mission ”to inspire our community and beyond to support the tradition of the Dipsea Race, the maintenance of the Dipsea Trail, and the legacy for current and future generations.”

They started with the third and top flight of 151 steps, and in 2011, finished the first and longest flight of approximately 300 steps from Cascade Way to Millside Lane. Each of those campaigns were driven by sponsors who sought to honor and memorialize friends and family with plaques on stairs. Now, with the Dipsea Race Foundation looking to finish the renovation by focusing on the second flight of approximately 200 stairs, foundation officials are seeking sponsors to reserve a step with a personalized plaque. The plaques require a minimum deposit of $500 as part of a tax-deductible donation of $1,700.

“We’re thrilled at the support we’ve received to date on the renovations of the first two flights, and we’re excited to finish this work to ensure that future generations of runners and hikers can safely ascend and descend the stairs along the Dipsea Trail,” says Foundation Board Chair Mervyn Regan.

Along with the Dipsea Steps Renovation, the Foundation also operates two programs focused on the next generation: the Dipsea Kidz youth development program, which serves at-risk kids in Marin County through a structured, twice-weekly after school physical fitness, mentoring, nutritional and educational program, as well as the Dipsea scholarships, doled out to “outstanding young men and women who have participated in the Dipsea Race, are residents of California, and are graduating high school seniors.”

The 411: Go here if you’re interested in becoming a Dipsea Steps Renovation Project sponsor. You can email donations@dipsearacefoundtion.org or mail a check to Dipsea Race Foundation, P.O. Box 10, Mill Valley, CA 94942. MORE INFO.

Nearly 20-year-old organization’s exhibit at the Mill Valley Community Center supports the multi-faceted campaign to restore Mount Tamalpais.

Once a year for nearly two decades, the prolific and talented BayWood Artists have been plying their paint brushes for an art show to raise funds and bring awareness to Bay Area nonprofit environmental organization, spanning from the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the Point Reyes National Seashore Association to the Marin Conservation League over the years.

For 2016, they’ve turned their attention to one of the newest environmental ventures in the Bay Area: One Tam, a community campaign of the Tamalpais Lands Collaborative to "raise awareness about the need to maintain the long-term health of Mt. Tam, engage more volunteers in caring for its treasured resources, and renew the spirit of philanthropy that has been so fundamental to the preservation of Mt. Tam over the past century." The Tamalpais Lands Collaborative includes California State Parks, Marin County Parks, Marin Municipal Water District, and the National Park Service along with the nonprofit Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

The BayWood Artists, a nonprofit group of artists that create approximately 120 original paintings each year for their art shows, will showcase their “Mt. Tam As We See It: BayWood Artists Paint the Spirit of the Mountain” paintings October 1-2 at the Mill Valley Community Center, with half of all proceeds going to One Tam.

A group of 10 artists created BayWood Artists in 1997. It drew its inspiration a year earlier, when San Anselmo artists Zeneida Mott, Lissa Nicolaus and Sherrill Miller were approached by Mary Welch, then-director of MarinScapes, an art show that benefits Buckelew Programs. It was suggested that since they all painted landscapes, the artists could do something to also preserve the land they loved to paint. BayWood Artists has remained small in size with about 10-12 members with guest artists added every year.

The art to benefit One Tam will include artwork from Christin Coy, Laura Culver, John Finger, Jon Francis, Robert Frank, Sherrill Miller, Victoria Mimiaga, Lissa Nicolaus and Tom Soltesz.

Later in October, One Tam is hosting the “Mt. Tam Science Summit,” a gathering of the mountain’s four land management agencies, together with other Bay Area scientists, to answer the question: “How healthy is Mt. Tam?” They’ll share what they know, and what they don’t yet know, about the condition of selected plants, animals, and natural processes found on Mt Tam. The event is set for Oct. 28-29 at the Sausalito Portuguese Cultural Center.
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The 411: The “Mt. Tam As We See It: BayWood Artists Paint the Spirit of the Mountain” exhibit by BayWood Artists to benefit One Tam is set for Saturday, October 1 (11am-6pm) and Sunday, October 2 (11am-4pm) for a free public art sale. A reception will be held Saturday from 3-6pm, where participating artists will be available to talk about their works and the BayWood Artists organization. Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto. MORE INFO.

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You only turn 60 once.

And with that in mind, the organizers of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, which celebrates its 60th Anniversary on Sept. 17-18, have lined up a doozy of a music and culinary roster for its fundraiser gala on September 10 at the Throckmorton Theatre.

The gala kicks off at 6pm with a champagne, beer, wine and food from a who's who of great local restaurants and food and drink providers, including Bungalow 44, Piazza D'Angelo, El Paseo, Playa, Vasco, Equator, Mill Valley Market and Vintage Wine & Spirits.

The gala also features a concert from the Fall Arts Gala Jam Band, a group of some of the biggest names on the local music scene, including guitarist/band leader Jimmy Dillon, guitarist/keyboardist Bill Champlin, singer Tony Lindsay, drummer Deszon Claiborne, bassist Eric McCann and keyboardist  Austin DeLone.

When the gala concludes at 9:30pm, a "Can't Get Enough" VIP after-party rolls over to Sammy Hagar's El Paseo for wine and light food with artist Tom Killion, musicians from the gala, festival luminaries and other special guests.
All proceeds go directly to support the festival via the 501c3 Friends of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, which also makes the majority of the cost of tickets fully tax deductible.

The 411: The 60th Annual Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival Fundraiser Gala is Saturday, Sept. 10, 6–9:30pm at the Throckmorton Theatre. MORE INFO & TIX.

The Mill Valley Arts Commission's vaunted First Tuesday Artwalk has long been a downtown-centric affair, but the confluence of art- and design-oriented business on and around Miller Avenue is looking to change that, providing a link between downtown and the exhibits at the Mill Valley Community Center.

"We're all really excited to get involved in the Art Walk and, most importantly, to showcase some amazing artists," says Bonnie Powers, co-owner of Poet and/the Bench jewelry shop, workspace and gallery. "Getting involved in this event makes perfect sense."

Poet and/the Bench is one of the members of the Mill Valley Design District, a group of innovative, design-focused businesses on and around Miller Avenue that includes Henrybuilt, Revelation, Kress Jack at Home and 7 on Locust. The group formed in late 2015 as a way to celebrate their respective emergence, deciding over the summer to collectively join the First Tuesday Artwalk, starting in September. 

The monthly celebration of local art includes a host of venues, including the the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts, Seager Gray Gallery, the Mill Valley Public Library, Dolls and Dandy Salon, Throckmorton Theatre, the Depot Bookstore & Café and City Hall. Receptions at each venue are Tuesday from 6–8pm. Here’s the First Tuesday Artwalk Guide with venues and a map.

Mill Valley Design District – First Tuesday Artwalk venues:

7 ON LOCUST
Summer Strauch: “Oceans” photographs
7 Locust Avenue, 388-9696
Hours: Mon 10am-5pm, Tues-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 11am-6pm, Sun 12pm-4pm
KRESS JACK AT HOME
Denise Carletta: “Portraits” drawings in pencil
11 Locust Avenue, 686-3620
Hours: Tues-Sat 11am-5pm & by Appt.
POET AND/THE BENCH
Melissa Holden: “Interchanges” relief block prints
10E Locust Avenue, 569-4383
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-6pm
REVELATION
Laura Pacchini: oils on canvas
401F Miller Avenue, 383-2000
Hours: Wed-Sat 11am-6pm & by Appt.
​SALVAGE
Karen Zeff: mixed media
10D Locust Avenue, 302-3014
Hours: Wed-Sun 1-6pm

The story of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival, now celebrating its 60th year, is as much about the celebration of a community as it is about art. One might say that art is an expression of the special way this place makes us feel.

In the late 1950s Mill Valley was a model small, suburban town. Its downtown was made up primarily of resident-serving businesses, from Mayer’s Men’s and Women’s Department Store to Varney’s Hardware. As a boy, I found Bennett’s Variety Store especially exciting. The glass candy counters just in the front door offered sparkling bins of candy corn and lemon drops that sold for 25 cents a pound. Heading off to a Saturday matinée double feature next door at the Sequoia Theater, with a small white bag holding 10 cents’ worth, was as close as a kid can get to heaven on earth.
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Mill Valley was a uniquely creative place. Homes were highly affordable, drawing many artists and bohemians. Folks moved here for the sense of community, the spiritual beauty of Mt. Tam, and the wealth of nature. The creative arts, visual and performing, flourished, capturing the joy and beauty of the surroundings.

The beginning of the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival—the first “Mill Valley Harvest Festival”—was held October 25-November 2, 1957. It was an ambitious nine-day community celebration in Lytton Square as well as a small section of Locust Avenue. Sponsored by the MV Chamber of Commerce Merchants Committee, it was conceived as a harvest and Halloween party.

Festivities featured a fashion show, with styles primarily offered by Mayer’s, a costume parade, and elaborate sidewalk and window box displays of fall flowers and foliage, including cornstalks, pumpkins and scarecrows. Food and other concession booths filled the square in front of the Greyhound Bus Depot. Live entertainment was a combination of contemporary Americana with the area’s Mexican heritage. There were traditional Hispanic dances and Mexican music, square dancing, street dancing, strolling minstrels, clowns, and a ventriloquist. As a special presentation, more than 60 Marin artists organized an exhibit of their paintings in 80 storefront displays. These artworks were designed to bring additional color to the festive decorations. Prizes of $25, $15, and $10 were awarded to the most popular works, as voted by festival attendees.

The next year, 1958, the event was shortened to four days. Still an ambitious undertaking, it took place Oct. 30-Nov. 2, and was again held in Lytton Square. Sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce and Mill Valley merchants, the entertainment level was expanded. The Fall Fashion Show returned and Hawaiian, Scandinavian, and Israeli folk dancers were added. Activities also included a Halloween parade, puppet show, ju-jitsu demonstrations, free kiddies’ show at the Sequoia Theatre, tricycle races and a hula hoop contest, as well as sidewalk food and game booths. A beauty pageant was added, complete with the crowning of Queen of the Festival at the Queen’s Ball in the American Legion Hall.

Mill Valley auto dealers and merchants made a last-minute request to close off Lytton Square for an auto show. This prompted an argument in the City Council, fraying tempers over downtown parking and shopping issues. Happily, a compromise was found, and eventually the town’s 12 dealerships exhibited 36 new models. Most notable were Larry Brink’s new Lincolns and Mercurys from his showroom on East Blithedale. Larry had a great reputation in town, due to his fame as a past Chicago Bears football player.

With all this going on, art may have taken a back seat. Still, local artists exhibited over 100 paintings in stores, and the popularity poll and prizes were continued.

The festival returned in 1959 with a new name, “The Third Annual Fall Festival,” a three-day community event September 25-27. Again sponsored by the Junior Chamber of Commerce, it enjoyed a profound change in focus. Gone were the fashion and auto shows, and there was consciously more emphasis on art. The business window displays continued, with the addition of a gallery exhibit at the R&R Garage on Corte Madera Ave., and a special presentation of art and music in El Paseo.

​Pottery and other art process demonstrations were staged in Lytton Square, along with game booths sponsored by civic groups. There was an emphasis on elaborate sidewalk floral displays. The entertainment included a Dixieland band, banjo and guitar folk music, classical accordion, cello and piano, Elizabethan music, street dancing, and square dancing. Free kiddie movies at the Sequoia, marionettes, and children’s games and contests were presented, as well as the coronation ball for the Festival Queen and the selection of “Miss Artists Model.” An editorial headline of the day stated: “Festival has the right to develop into a community arts demonstration of rising importance on the Pacific Coast.”

Not long after Sophia van der Harst moved Poekie Nook – her kid-friendly business that centers on ​the pillowy stuffed animal that has inspired children to “create, craft and imagine” – moved to Tam Junction, she noticed two things: she was surrounded by fellow kid-focused businesses, and that it wasn't easy for kids to navigate between them because of the car-centric infrastructure of Shoreline Highway.

So van der Harst decided to do something about it. When summer camp season arrived, she teamed with Roco Dance nearby on a four-week, dual camp: kids danced in the morning at Roco and sewed their Poekies in the afternoon. But with a big fence between the two businesses, van der Harst started meeting the children at Roco and accompany them back to Poekie Nook.

The move was a hit with parents, many of whom had planned to pick their kids up at Roco and drive them to Poekie Nook – despite the businesses being about 100 feet apart. "It worked very well, and it was easy for me to do," van der Harst says.

Now she's gone a step further, doing the same after school for all of the kid-friendly businesses in the area, including Mojo Dojo Karate, Mathnasium, Studio4Art and Proof Lab. Poekie Nook operates on a drop-in format, while most of the others center around class times, so van der Harst says the move makes sense. She's also extended the offer to nearby businesses like Mill Valley Dentistry.

"Parents don’t have to make the deadline of a class ending as they do at the other kid venues, so they can come pick them up at my place any time they like," van der Harst says, noting, with a chuckle, that Poekie Nook is NOT a day care center, just a drop-in crafts spaces for kids. "In an effort to reduce the strain on traffic and parking, and adding convenience for the parents, this seems a good solution for everyone."

"All the kids businesses around here should connect – we’re all so complimentary, there’s no competition," she adds.