The following is part of Ronnie's Awesome List, an unbelievably comprehensive roundup of family-friendly events throughout the Bay Area compiled by Mill Valley mom and blogger Ronnie Sharpe, who just migrated the list over to a beautiful new website. Click here for the full list!

Saturday, November 1

Family Farm Days, 10am-2pm, go on a journey through the full food cycle from seed to meal, and we'll also look at some food traditions from around the world, Slide Ranch, Muir Beach.

Junior Chef Class, 10am, ages 9–13, Thanksgiving Helper - Soup Please!, Williams-Sonoma, The Village at Corte Madera.

Fun Family Mile, 10am-12pm, enjoy a spectacular one-mile walk with your family in this beautiful bayside park, McInnis Park, 310 Smith Ranch Rd, San Rafael.

Thankful Turkey Craft, 10am-12pm, ages 3+, $2 per child, 30 minutes of creative craft fun, Michaels, San Rafael.

Dia de los Muertos Celebration, 10:30am-3:30pm, free and fun for all ages, sugar skull decorating, face painting, memory boxes, and more, Mill Valley Community Center.

Girls Can Be Park Rangers Too, 6-8pm, play in the dirt, rock at sports, fight fires, camp in the woods, and be park rangers! Enjoy hot chocolate and s’mores and learn about what a Marin County Park Ranger does and how to become a park ranger. Marin County Parks Lucas Valley Field Office, 18 Jeannette Prandi Way, San Rafael.

Click here for the full list!

In what has become one of the 94941's landmark annual events, dozens of pets and their human sidekicks strutted their stuff at the 2014 Woodlands Pet Parade & Costume Contest on Saturday, October 25. Check out photos of some of our favorite participants! 
For the first time, the event came with a bonus donation – 10,000 meals were awarded to two local rescue groups: Hopalong & Second Chance Rescue and Rocket Dog Rescue each received 5,000 meals to help feed the animals under their care.  Meals courtesy of Halo Pets were awarded to the rescue groups of the winner’s choice. 

The Bay Area Children’s Theater (BACT) brings the surreal world, inspired by Roald Dahl’s classic tale of James and the Giant Peach to theaters all around the Bay Area over the next month, starting with the Nov. 6–9 run at the Marin Theatre Company. The story is about James, an orphaned boy, who escapes from his wicked aunts aboard an enormous enchanted peach inhabited by a bevy of bugs. I had a chance to speak to the Tony Award-nominated songwriters of James and the Giant Peach, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, to give some insight on their creative process and background about writing the music for James and the Giant Peach.

What was your childhood like?
Justin: I grew up in a musical home. My parents played piano, guitar and sang. When I was 10, my parents were looking for an outlet for me to do something that included singing. At that age, there were not a lot of options but they found musical theatre. Growing up, I performed in lots of plays. I loved singing, dancing, piano, acting and percussion. I had a very rich musical and theatrical childhood.
Benj: Writing, poetry, and music was introduced early in my life. My mom is a developmental psychologist and on the side she liked to write songs to capture moments in our lives. This became very popular at my preschool. My mom and her friend became a children’s music duo and continued to write many albums of kids music about growing up such as “Jumping in a Puddle” and “Hugs and Kisses.” I grew up in an environment of turning every moment of life into song. As I got older, I became interested in writing my own songs. I was so lucky to grow up in a very supportive environment where theatre and music was accessible and encouraged.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Justin: I knew musical theatre was something I had a passion for but I didn’t know I could do this as a career. I thought of it as just a fun way to express myself, exercise that creative muscle, and develop my talent. It wasn’t until high school when I realized that people do this for a living. Then I knew musical theatre was going to be more then just a fun hobby.

Click here for the full Q&A. And visit Ronnie's Awesome List for a massive list of family-friendly events throughout the Bay Area.

The longstanding effort to bring a public bathroom facility to downtown Mill Valley is expected to take a significant step forward at the November 5 meeting of the Parks & Recreation Commission, which will review the feasibility and location of two final bathroom proposals and choose between them.

In January, the Commission whittled a group of five proposals for a downtown bathroom down to two:

• A stand-alone bathroom at the bus shelter near the southeastern edge of the Depot Plaza adjacent to Sunnyside Avenue. 
  
• A new bathroom at the eastern edge of Depot, adjacent to the storage area of the Depot Bookstore & Café. 
  

Since the Commission selected those two finalists, updates to building code standards and the need to be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has added a requirement to provide separate bathroom facilities for men and women, which adds to the estimated design and construction costs for each proposal.

Local architect Kim Jessup, whose father Richard “Dick” Jessup, a former Mill Valley mayor who designed the Depot Plaza and first sketched out a downtown bathroom location in 1984, conducted feasibility studies of the two final bathroom plans and locations.

City staff then produced illustrated simulations of each location to help the community visualize a structure at each location. The simulations do not represent the actual design for the bathroom, as that process will be completed once the Commission, and subsequently the City Council, picks a location.

The Downtown Bathroom project currently has a budget of $10,000 for design and $150,000 for construction. Preliminary estimates for the two locations are as follows:

• Bus Shelter: $130,065
  
• Depot building: $235,117
  

The heightened cost for the Depot building bathroom in the preliminary estimates owes largely to the addition building foundation work, trenching for utilities and the removal and relocation of the sidewalk, according to Tim McSorley, the City’s Supervising Senior Engineer.

The design process for the downtown bathroom will begin after the City Council weighs in on the Parks & Recreation Commission’s choice of one of the two locations. The Commission will review a detailed design in January 2015, and the City Council is expected to authorize the project for bids and construction, which is projected to start in Spring 2015.

Your participation and input in the process is welcome and encouraged:

• Attend the upcoming Parks & Recreation Commission Meeting - Wednesday, November 5 at 7 pm.
  
• Watch the webcast of the meeting.
  
• Send written comments to: City Clerk at 26 Corte Madera Ave., Mill Valley CA 94941, or email cityclerk@cityofmillvalley.org.

Looking to take your holiday lights to the next level this year?

A brand new local business is hoping you do just that and save you the stress and mess that comes with designing and installing your own holiday lights.

Twinkle Holiday Lighting was launched earlier this year by Michael and Suzanne Twing, who live in Tam Valley with their daughter and two sons. The family surname likely dictated nary a debate about the moniker of their holiday lighting company.

“These aren’t your typical Santa’s Village version of holiday lights,” Michael Twing says. “We focus on LED lights, which really allow for more creativity and interactivity and some really cool stuff.”

Twing, a native of Sunnyvale who moved to Marin nearly 15 years ago and who founded his general contracting business here, has always dabbled in lighting projects, either as an additional service for his clients or as a hobby.

“This fits really well with what I do – it’s an easy transition into this work,” says Twing, a pilot who was one of the few who in 1999 established the Black Rock City Municipal Airport, which is the second busiest airport in the state of Nevada during the Burning Man festival.

“I’ve always enjoyed lighting design and installation, whether it’s landscape lighting, theater lighting or art piece lighting. It’s kind of a hobby that turned into work.”

Twing first realized that his knowledge and ability with lighting could become a business through a friend, architect Ross Smith, who had worked for a company called Christmas Light Pros, a firm that’s grown in leaps and bounds since it was launched in 1998.

“He put the bug in my ear,” Twing says. “It was, ‘Wow, this is a real business.’”

The 411: Twinkle Holiday Lighting is looking for both residential and business customers throughout the 94941. Click here or email info@twinkleholidaylighting.com or call 415.380.1988 for more info.

With few exceptions, rare is the artist in the history of music who can match the genre-spanning career of Narada Michael Walden.

The longtime Marin resident, whose career spans from a three-year stint drumming in jazz-fusion powerhouse Mahavishnu Orchestra to producing hits for the likes of Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and a bevy of artists in between, brings his latest project to the Throckmorton Theatre Friday Night.

The Narada Michael Walden Band, a five-piece group that recorded Thunder 2013, Walden’s first solo album in more than 20 years, will perform tracks from that record and a host of others for its “Thunder Throwdown” concert, with a twist: the group will also be recording a music video during the show.

Walden was barely out of his teens when he got his break as a drummer with the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and he went on to record 13 solo albums as well as becoming a hit producer with an A-list of credits including Houston, Franklin, Jefferson Starship, Carey and many more. Walden recently finished a two-year world tour drumming with Jeff Beck. 

The Narada Michael Walden Band features Narada on drums and vocals, Nikita Germaine on vocals, Frank Martin on Keys, Matthew Charles Heulitt on Guitar and Angeline Saris on Bass.

The 411: The Narada Michael Walden Band’s “Thunder Throwdown” concert is Friday, October 24, 8pm, at the Throckmorton Theatre, 142 Throckmorton Avenue, Mill Valley, CA 94941. Tickets are $30 general admission, $40 day-of-show, $45 reserved seating. Click here for more info and to buy tickets.

The Mountain Play Association has announced that its 2015 production is the timeless Broadway musical Peter Pan, which will be directed by Marin native Michael Schwartz for the organization's 102nd season.

“We are delighted to introduce new director Michael Schwartz to our Mountain Play audience for this magical production of Peter Pan in May,” Mountain Play Association Executive Director Sara Pearson said. “As a native of Marin, Michael brings a unique combination of qualities to our team. His fresh creative vision reflects his New York experience and yet he comes to the project with a deep connection to Mount Tamalpais and a personal love of the Mountain Play.”

Based on Sir James M. Barrie’s classic tale and featuring an unforgettable score by Morris “Moose” Charlap and Jule Styne with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh and Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Peter Pan is one of the most beloved family favorites of all time. With a sprinkling of pixie dust, Peter, the boy who wouldn’t grow up, and his playful sidekick fairy Tinkerbell whisk the Darling family children to the place where dreams are born. During their adventures in Neverland they encounter all the characters one would expect in the magical world of childhood. There are bungling pirates, natives, an infamous ticking crocodile and, of course, the villainous Captain Hook.

“Mt. Tam really was the Neverland of my youth,” Schwartz said. “As anyone who has walked these trails knows, it is a truly special place that evokes majesty, mischief and wonder. Having attended the Mountain Play for years with my own family, I couldn’t be more excited to return to Neverland and direct one of the greatest musicals with this incredible organization.

Born and raised in Marin, educated in Los Angeles and London, and based in New York City, Schwartz is an award-winning director of theatre, film, and large-scale events. He has worked on theatrical projects with The Old Vic Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, NY Philharmonic, American Conservatory Theatre, The Magic Theatre, Yale University, NAMT, Fringe NYC, among others.

With a pair of events Friday, Mill Valley Recreation is going all in on the Halloween spirit.

The spooktacular fun kicks off with the first of two editions of the family Halloween Music & Magic Show at 4pm, featuring the lively music of Andy Z and the thrills and chills from Zappo the Magician’s Halloween magic show. Zappo combines comedy, audience participation and magic in a 45-minute show “for goblins aged 3 to 103.”

From 5–6:30pm, Mill Valley Recreation hosts an event adding a new twist to trick or treating. Trunk or Treat features a dozen "trunks" that will be in the Community Center parking lot along with a Food Truck (Lets Eat Grill Stop) providing a Trunk and Treating area featuring some treats and activities for kids. Trunks include: MV Recreation, Dia De los Muertos, Urban Sitter, Mad Science, SASM, Senior Program, Amazing Science and Doodlebug. The Mill Valley Fire Department will also be present with an engine and Halloween cheer.

The second editions of the family Halloween Music & Magic Show follows at 6:30pm.

General admission tickets for the family Halloween Music & Magic Show are $9 each, children 3 years and under are free. Tickets are on sale now at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto. For more information call the Mill Valley Parks and Recreation Department at 383-1370.

As Tam Valley residents and tech industry veterans Lee and Megan Mokri crafted the concept behind their new healthy meal delivery service 180Eats, they did what many entrepreneurs do in our Internet-driven era of instant-feedback: they frequently surveyed their potential customers.

But the Mokris also took a decidedly less tech-centric approach. In addition to leaning heavily on the local success of sites like NextDoor and Patch to spread the word and solicit feedback, they also sought to meet with at least one of those customers a day, in person, often over coffee, to pick their brains about the 180Eats concept, the service, the ingredients and the meals, much like a grassroots political campaign.

“We’re not out there kissing babies,” Lee Mokri, who left his job as director of global corporate communications at Visa Inc. earlier this year, says with a laugh. “But these meetings have added a ton of insight.”

More importantly, they’ve produced results. 180Eats started with one customer on Pine Hill Road in Tam Valley around the time of its launch five weeks ago. Now it’s up to six customers on that street, a hyperlocal trend that has echoed across Southern Marin.

And once they sign up, those customers are coming back – 75 percent of 180Eats’ customers are returning.

The concept of 180Eats – the name refers to a 180-degree turn away from processed ingredients and a return to seasonally-driven whole foods – was born out the Mokris’ own personal experience in the three years since they moved to Mill Valley. With busy professional lives that often required commutes to San Francisco and Foster City, they didn’t have the time to cook healthy meals at home each night, didn’t want to splurge on a meal at an upscale local restaurant and had a hard time finding a middle ground: healthy, delicious meals made from locally sourced ingredients that they could eat at home. 

The past year made the problem even more acute: the arrival of their daughter six months ago and a three-month kitchen remodel that had them eating out most nights a week. They had some success with places like the hot bar at Whole Foods, “but you can’t do that every day,” Mokri says.

The concept derived in part from Marin’s proximity to world-class farms, and 180Eats works with providers like Humboldt Grass Fed Beef, Petaluma Poultry and Water2Table, among others.

“We live so close to some of the best ingredients in the world and a lot of people don’t have the access that they could or should have, either because of time or money or both,” he says.

Through the course of their surveys of approximately 150 neighbors, they learned that there were plenty of people around them who felt the same way. The majority preferred to eat at home during the week and didn’t want to spend much more than $20 or $30 for dinner for two. That helped the Mokris land on a price point: $10.95 per meal.

“That is probably cheaper than you could cook those ingredients yourself,” he says.

Lee and Megan Mokri auditioned a group of standout Bay Area chefs to run the food side of the business, with prospective customers selecting the winner, American Idol-style. Former Google executive chef Jefferson Sevilla landed the gig. Sevilla cooks out of a commercial kitchen in San Rafael.

180Eats offers two meal options per day (the menu changes daily), one veggie and one meat (or fish) entrée, with free delivery to San Rafael, Larkspur, Tiburon, Belvedere, Corte Madera, Greenbrae and Mill Valley.

The Mokris have had some consulting help along the way. They worked with incubator Renaissance Marin in San Rafael to put together their business model. Megan Mokri, whose professional background is in ecommerce and online advertising, is currently attending the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley, through which they participated six weeks ago in an Entrepreneurs Boot Camp, winning a pitch competition featuring 100 startups from around the world.

The Mokris are already eyeing the next chapter for 180Eats: setting up “grab-n-go” retail locations, starting in Tam Valley, where customers could pick up meals on their way home from work.

The 411: Go to 180Eats.com website, see the menu for the week ahead and pick a meal and a delivery day/time. Each meal is $10.95 and delivery to San Rafael, Larkspur, Tiburon, Belvedere, Corte Madera, Greenbrae and Mill Valley is free. 

The Milley Awards, the City of Mill Valley’s annual chance to honor creative achievement and distinguished accomplishments in the arts, held its 20th Anniversary Ceremony Sunday night, with seven people and one art venue garnering this year's recognition. 

The 2014 honorees included legendary comedian Mort Sahl, famed author Joyce Maynard, prolific music producer Scott Mathews, architect and former Mayor Christopher Raker and Daniel Patrick and Erma Murphy's Murphy Productions, the event production and promotion company that has been an engine for the local arts scene for more than a decade. The O’Hanlon Center for the Arts received the Vera Schultz Award for its “lasting contributions to the cultural life of our community," while Gage Schubert, longtime local supporter of the arts and the husband of the late, great puppeteer Lettie Schubert, received the Sali Lieberman Award, a lifetime achievement award for “individuals who embody Marin Theatre Company founder Sali Lieberman's inspiration, courage and determination and who, like him, have contributed significantly to the cultural life of Mill Valley.”

Rita Abrams, best known for recording the song “Mill Valley” with her third grade class at Strawberry Point Elementary School in 1970, along with Milley Awards co-founder Abby Wasserman, served as emcees for the event. Abrams garnered a Milley in 1996 while Wasserman won the Sali Lieberman Award in 2009.

The Milley Award itself is a bronze statuette created by John Libberton of Sausalito. Here are brief bios of the 2014 Milley Award recipients. Click here for more info on the winners.