The Mill Valley Recreation Department is hosting a pair of blockbuster Halloween events on Friday, Oct. 28. The spooky festivities begin at 4pm with the annual family Halloween Magic Show. Dana Smith kicks off the show with a lively, 30-minute juggling set with plenty of acrobatics, music and comedy mixed in. Timothy James then takes the stage to deliver some thrills and chills with his Halloween magic show, combining comedy, audience participation and amazing magic to create a spooktacular, 45-minute show for goblins aged 3 to 103! Attendees should wear their Halloween costumes.

After the show, families can head out to the Community Center parking lot for the annual Trunk or Treat, a free family event in which businesses, local organizations and residents are invited to promote themselves by welcoming families to "trick-or-treat" from their decorated car trunks. Don’t miss out on the fun and don’t forget to wear your Halloween costume.

The 411: The Halloween Magic Show is Friday, October 28, 4pm at the Community Center, 180 Camino Alto.  Tickets are $9 each, children 3 years and under are free. Tickets are on sale now at the Community Center. For more information call 415-383-1370.

In May 2014, Melora Johnson took the leap of a lifetime, moving her little Juice Girl pop-up shop in the Yolo Yogurt Lounge into the space vacated by juice giant Jamba Juice. In doing so, Johnson and partner Karen Olson knew they had to grow in every way to make it work in their own space, particularly by adding an array of healthy food options.

Two-plus years later, Juice Girl is far more than a local food spot – it’s “a community gathering spot for kids and parents to enjoy healthy food together – it feels like sort of a Cheers – but a healthy Cheers,” Olson says with a laugh. “That was our vision, and we’re seeing it through. We've grown considerably.”

The biggest driver in making Juice Girl a hub of activity is obvious: kiddos. Their lunch volume from Tam High students has increased dramatically since they opened, and the business is a gathering spot for both Tam and Mill Valley Middle School students after school. Juice Girl is also doing its part to lessen school-related traffic congestion, as some Middle School parents are having their kids walk to Juice Girl to be picked up, thus easing the traffic jams along Camino Alto at the end of the school day.

“We’ve all got to do our part,” jokes Olson, who manages the day-to-day operations of Juice Girl while Johnson focuses on the business and marketing side of things.

Now the partners are ready to expand upon their vision and make Juice Girl a platform for other emerging local businesses. On Thursday, Oct. 13, they’re hosting a Pop-Up Shop for Epic Sky, the online fashion store founded by Mill Valley moms Marian Kwon and Monika Rose and featuring clothing, jewelry and accessories designed by teens for tween girls. The event features Epic Sky clothing, a live DJ, raffle prizes and giveaways and Juice Girl snacks. Olson knows the founders as their daughters are the same age.

“I just think that what they’re doing is so cool,” she says. “There’s no appropriate clothing for tweens 10-13, and Epic Sky is doing something about it. And they’re promoting healthy everything for girls in that age range.

​The pop-up event gets at the core of Juice Girl’s desire to pay it forward.

“When we started Juice Girl, the community and friends were so supportive of us in helping us out in so many ways get the business off the ground,” Olson says. “There are so many really talented, smart women in Mill Valley, and they supported us. Now we want to do the same for other local women and help them with their businesses.”

She’s not stopping at Epic Sky. Juice Girl is laden with products, books and art with Mill Valley ties, from Jackie Broad’s “Eat Your Breakfast or Else!” and Karen Benke’s “Write Back Soon!” to the photography of Rebecca Hutchins, whose Shutterbuggs Workshop is a photo club for kids.

“I just really want to help promote all the amazing women in Mill Valley,” Olson says. “We live a very unique town with an amazing amount of creative people. I’d like to use our venue to help showcase them and help people with their businesses.”

The 411: With an expanded menu and a variety of seasonal options and daily specials, Juice Girl is located at 45 Camino Alto, Suite 104. It’s open Mon.-Sat. 7am-6pm, Sat.-Sun. 8am-5pm. 415.322.6160. MORE INFO.   

Longtime Mill Valley resident Yuko Ohmori is closing her popular downtown UKO clothing boutique on October 16.

Ohmori says the store has continued to do well over the past year-plus, but she decided to consolidate her business and inventory around her location in San Francisco's Hayes Valley district.

"We really appreciate everyone's loving support of our UKO boutique in Marin," she says. "But I realized that it is just not possible for me to do the work my business partner and i did by myself." Ohmori's store has developed a stellar reputation for clothing that is stylish, unique, arty, timeless and ageless clothes with very reasonable price in San Francisco since 1986. 

Born and raised in Japan, Ohmori was a professional fashion stylist, working on fashion shows and fashion photographies in Tokyo and for a Japanese fashion designer in Paris. When she moved to the United States, she double majored in international business and fashion merchandising.

"It was so much fun when my daughter Maya's preschool teachers like Marcy Summers and other Greenwood School and Tam High school teachers and parents would stop by our downtown Mill Valley store," Ohmori says. "The best thing about being in Mill Valley downtown was to be able to reconnect with old friends, and that was such a blessing for me. We sometimes lose connections to some very special friends due to our very busy life and we only realize what we had when we lose it. For that reason, opening my Mill Valley store gave me a second chance to be re-conected with old friendships."

"It also gave me a chance to work with my daughter Maya Scott side by side everyday of winter and summer vacation time," Ohmori adds. "It was amazing to see how quickly a 20-year-old can learn the work and help improve the family business as if she was doing it for her dad, David Scott, who left his half of the UKO business for his daughters when he passed away over one year ago." 

The 411: UKO is located at 75 Throckmorton Ave. Ohmori is holding a Closing Sale through Oct. 16. Stop by to enjoy wine, tea, chocolate, 20% off of fall/winter 2016 inventory and regular merchandise as well as sale items. MORE INFO. 415-326-5088.   

For 107 minutes on the Smith Rafael Film Center's screen for the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival Monday evening, actor Gael Garcia Bernal delivered a nuanced, oft-hilarious performance as Oscar Peluchonneau, a "half moron, half idiot" detective of dubious origins on the hunt for Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda in director Pablo Larrain's new film, Neruda.

Bernal bookended the film screening with visits to the Rafael's stage, exuding charm, intellect and a sense of humor that delighted the packed house. Larrain, whose other new film, Jackie, starring Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy in the days after her husband’s assassination, prefers to call those films "anti-biopics." In doing so, Bernal says Larrain relies on a saying from Subcomandante Marcos, the nom de guerre of the leader of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation during the Chiapas conflict in Mexico: "We come here to bring a problem and to invite you to carry on with it." 

"This film is not necessarily about Neruda," Bernal told MVFF Founder/Director Mark Fishkin in a Q&A after the screening. "Moreso, it's 'Nerudean.' You feel his language and you see and hear the universe of Neruda himself. This is a man whose poems filled stadiums. It's as if the story was already in our blood."

Neruda focuses on the late 1940s political exile of the poet and Chilean Community Party Senator, who lived in hiding before fleeing first to Argentina and then to France. As the dim detective who sees his assignment to track down Neruda as a chance to make his mark in the world, Bernal's character is instead unwound by the chase, with Neruda leaving behind signed crime novels at each of his hiding spots. Peluchonneau is increasingly revealed to be a character of Neruda's creation – "a noble enemy."

More than anything, Bernal said, Neruda is about the power of the poet's words and poetry overall, with a droll-yet-soulful tone established by Larrain and screenwriter Guillermo Calderon that leans heavily on both "love poems and the anger poems" of Pablo Neruda, Bernal said.

"In exile, Neruda gave the people the words of their nightmares," Bernal said. "We cannot diminish the power of poetry in politics."

"Poets inspire us to have many lives within one life," he added. "Poetry is the triumph of the analog over the rational – it is the music that triumphs over any rational explanation. Poets defend the ambiguity of the human condition, and this film is a triumph of poetry in a way."

Fishkin concluded the evening by presenting the 37-year-old Bernal with the MVFF Award to honor "his transformational performance" and his already-illustrious career, including acclaimed performances in Amores Perros, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Rosewater, The Motorcycle Diaries and, most recently, his Golden Globe Award-winning turn as symphony conductor Rodrigo De Souza in the Amazone show Mozart in the Jungle:

Matthew Stephens, the director of both the Conservatory of Flowers and the San Francisco Botanical Garden in Golden Gate Park, will speak on Thursday, November 3 at 1pm at the Outdoor Art Club about the two Bay Area horticultural treasures that he oversees.

Stephens will present his vision for both institutions and how he is working to further elevate these living museums into international destinations and leaders in plant conservation by connecting plants, people and resources.

The 411: The Outdoor Art Club is at 1 West Blithedale Avenue. The 1pm event is free. Light refreshments will be served. MORE INFO.

On November 6, the Community Church of Mill Valley will host a lecture from Dr. Lonny Shavelson, the director of the film, Three to Infinity: Beyond Two Genders, as part of the church's ongoing "Who Is Your Neighbor" forum series.

Shavelson will show his film and we will have a conversation about the issue of gender in our world today. Here's a description of the film: "People who identify as neither male nor female: agender, gender neutral, gender queer, and more. Facebook and Google have acknowledged the increasing numbers of new-gender members by listing multiple possible genders for your profile, as well as fill-in-your-own. In the feature documentary film From Three to Infinity: Beyond Two Genders, meet teenagers, parents, singles and couples, younger and older people who guide you into their world, where gender is not limited to male or female but is a spectrum of possibilities—where the future is the present."
 
Shavelson is a photojournalist, writer, radio and multimedia journalist, as well as a physician who has practiced both emergency and family medicine. His articles and photographs have appeared in numerous publications: The New York Times, People, Family Circle, Hippocrates (now Health), Mother Jones, Newsweek, The Los Angeles Times, and the Sunday newspaper magazines of the SF Examiner, SF Chronicle and others. Shavelson is also the author of six books, most recently Under the Dragon: California's New Culture, which explored California’s diversity.  
 
The 411: Lonny Shavelson speaks at the Community Church of Mill Valley, 8 Olive Street, 4-6pm. Admission is free. Donations are welcome. MORE INFO.

Mill Valley was abuzz Thursday night with the arrival in town of two of the biggest, most respected actresses in Hollywood – Emma Stone and Amy Adams – along with an emerging filmmaker Damien Chazelle, whose film La La Land joined Denis Villanueve's Arrival as the two Opening Night films for the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival.
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Adams and Stone appeared at a VIP event at the Outdoor Art Club before screenings of their respective new films, both of which are already drawing Academy Award speculation.
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The 411: The 39th Mill Valley Film Festival runs through Oct. 16.

Literary luminaries, an up-and-coming local music star, artisan cuisine and libations from local donors such as Front Porch Farms and Sammy Hagar made the annual Beyond the Book Bash fundraiser for the Mill Valley Public Library another night to remember. Held at the Throckmorton Theatre Sept. 30, the event raised nearly $80,000, proceeds of which support Mill Valley Library programs, services and an endowment that will fund them in perpetuity.  

In the Beyond the Book Bash tradition, readings, performances, and film clips were woven together by way of a literary theme in a show produced by Tom Corwin. Nationally acclaimed authors such as New York Times bestselling author David Talbot, Michael Krasny, author and host of KQED's forum, and award-winning poet Chinaka Hodge entertained the audience and music by local rising star Matt Jaffe rocked the house. 

In addition to the talent and generosity of the performers, local businesses and private donors also contributed greatly to the evening. Equator Coffee & Tea's new catering team, led by renowned chef and cookbook author Jennifer Bushman, provided fine cuisine. Fort Point Beer, Picket Fence Vineyards and wine donated from the private collection of Caren and Nick Orum, as well as additional treats from Piazza D'Angelo and Mill Valley Market, rounded out the evening. 

Before the show, event sponsors mingled with performers at a pre-event VIP party at Mill Valley's Seager Gray Gallery.

The Mill Valley Library Foundation has raised more than $1.5M for an endowment and financial support of programs such as First Fridays and After Hours events, children and teen programming, and digital entertainment, all free to the public. In 2015 alone, the library offered more than 1,000 free programs. 

"Programs like these make the library more relevant than ever," said Anji Brenner, city librarian. Mill Valley Library ranks near the top in program attendance amongst libraries serving similar-sized populations.

The community collaboration among kid-centric businesses in Tam Junction continues to flourish.

Looking to build on Poekie Nook owner Sophia van der Harst's decision to walk children to and from her kid-friendly business that centers on ​the pillowy stuffed animal that has inspired children to “create, craft and imagine,” she's teaming with Mathnasium owner Scott Rubin and Mojo Dojo owners Hanshi James Henry and Linda Anderson Henry for a kid-focused Open House featuring games, free food and drinks and the chance to win prizes. 

Their neighbors Cafe del Soul, Domino's Pizza and May Lee's Chinese Food will be serving up food.

The 411: The Tam Junction Open House at Mathnasium, Mojo Dojo and Poekie Nook is Saturday, Oct. 22, 5-7pm at each business at 247 Shoreline Hwy. ​All K-8 children are welcome.

Earthly Nutrition, the shop at 45 Camino Alto that's been serving up vitamins, nutritional supplements and natural beauty products in Mill Valley for six years – and for another 20 years before that as Vitamin Express – is hosting a "Demo Day" on Tuesday, October 11 from 12pm-4pm. 

"We'll have representatives from Jarrow, Chakra Food, Nature's Way, Cannavest (CBD), Ancient Nutrition (Bone Broth) and Acure personal care products in store showing samples and ready to answer questions," says store manager Martha Stafford. "We'll also be having a prize raffle drawing of $100 worth of products, so customers should come in to the store before Tuesday for a chance to win!"

The 411: Earthly Nutrition is hosting a "Demo Day" on Tuesday, Oct. 11 from 12-4pm. MORE INFO.

A pair of Mill Valley residents are hoping to put their hometown at the forefront of a new tech venture seeking to “advance the local Internet” via a mobile app that connects businesses and civic organizations with residents.

The Local Project, which was first conceived by executives at Houston, Texas-based ENet Technologies in September 2015, is a crowdsourcing effort focused on “web localization.” The venture hopes to create a one-stop shop for a variety of services, including a directory of businesses and organizations, listings for local discounts and a reservation- or appointment-booking system for businesses like restaurants, salons and auto repair shops. The location-based app would allow users to enter their zip code and select the mileage range within which the app would include businesses and organizations.

​Local residents Ashly Sylvia and Kirk Bogle, the latter of whom is the brother of one of the company’s founders, are in the midst of reaching out to businesses who want them to build their profiles on the platform. Sylvia and Bogle plan to officially launch The Local Project app in Marin in November.

“There are just so many great local businesses here in Mill Valley,” Sylvia says. “We used to go to the city all the time but there’s so many places right here in town. Our goal is to create a better connection between those businesses and local organizations and their customers.”

The couple acknowledges that there are other tech ventures hoping to become the go-to community hub on the Internet, but they say they’re squarely focused on connecting businesses and local organizations with residents, not becoming a quasi-Craigslist or Nextdoor.

“We don’t want it to devolve into a public chat room – this is going to be something that is a curated platform that connects residents with businesses and community organizations,” Bogle says.

The Local Project app will allow businesses to offer rewards programs, a great way to incentivize customers but often a costly way for individual businesses to do so by themselves, Bogle says. “The ability to book an appointment with my barber through the app and know that he’s part of a rewards program – that’s what we all need.”

The 411: The Local Project launches in Marin in November. MORE INFO. Find the app here. Reach Ashly Sylvia at 415-260-4432, asylvia@localproject.net and Kirk Bogle at 415-370-5843, kbogle@localproject.net. 

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Fresh off free Movies in the Park screenings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory that drew more than 300 people apiece to Old Mill Park, the series returns Oct. 14 with a free screening of Pixar's Academy Award-winning Inside Out as part of the 39th Mill Valley Film Festival.

The free outdoor film series, a collaboration between the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce, Mill Valley Recreation and the California Film Institute, kicked off in 2014 as an opportunity to celebrate film in one of the most gorgeous settings in the Bay Area: the redwood grove of Old Mill Park.

The Peter Doctor-directed Inside Out is set in the mind of a young girl named Riley Andersen, where five personified emotions—Joy (Amy Poehler), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Fear (Bill Hader), and Disgust (Mindy Kaling)—try to lead her through life as her parents (Diane Lane and Kyle MacLachlan) move from Minnesota to San Francisco and she has to adjust to her new surroundings.

The free film screenings are set in the redwood grove adjacent to the playground in Old Mill Park. Seating is general admission, and attendees are encouraged to bring a blanket and/or low beach chair. The film begins at sunset, approximately 6:45pm on October 14Em.

Don't miss this chance to see amazing films in the beautiful Old Mill Park – FOR FREE! Old Mill Park is at the corner of Throckmorton Avenue and Cascade Drive. 

On Sept. 19, the Sweetwater Music Hall's weekly Open Mic Night with local legend Austin DeLone took the night off so that some of the biggest names in music could raise money for arts education in the Mill Valley School District.

Billed as "Sammy Hagar & Friends," the star-studded evening of acoustic music was spearheaded by the Red Rocker himself, who was joined by Grateful Dead legend and Sweetwater co-owner Bob Weir, as well as legendary folk musician Ramblin' Jack Elliott and longtime Hagar collaborator Vic Johnson.

The two-and-a-half-hour event raised $22,672 for the Kiddo! Endowment for the Arts. Kiddo! created the fund in 1986, four years after the organization's debut, to provide "a perpetual source of secure funding for Kiddo! programs. The fund has grown since then to its current value of approximately $5 million. Since the fund’s creation, proceeds have been used to fund ongoing programs and seed promising new initiatives. Income from the Endowment currently funds approximately 7 percent of Kiddo!’s annual program expenses," according to Kiddo's website. 

Hagar hosted the show with his wife Kari, the Hagar Family Foundation, and Hagar’s El Paseo Restaurant. "Our children were educated in the Mill Valley School District,” he says. “Kari and I are so grateful for the broad arts education they received thanks to funds raised by Kiddo!. We are thrilled to be able to support the Kiddo! Endowment, and help ensure that all of the children of Mill Valley have the same benefits for years to come.”  

“What an incredible night!,” says Bill Lampl, Kiddo! Executive Director. “Not only was this an exciting event for the community, but I’m thrilled that the Hagars, El Paseo, and all of the folks who came out for the show tonight, are helping us make (Kiddo founder) Trisha’s (Garlock) vision a reality.”

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