The COVID-19 crisis has had profoundly distressing impacts on so many layers of the Mill Valley community.

There are the frontline hospital workers treating coronavirus patients and administering vaccine, as well as the essential workers ping-ponging between crazy schedules to being furloughed. And there are the business owners constantly having to reinvent a business model with every twist and turn of the reopening rollercoaster, all the while investing in ever-increasing workplace safety protocols to keep their employees and customers as safe as possible amidst a pandemic.

So when we launched our Mill Valley Thrive Fund this week to support Mill Valley businesses with tax-deductible donations from the community, we quickly heard from a number of donors who were looking for ways to bolster all of those critically important elements of our community at once.

The result has been $25,000 in donations that deliver a "win-win-win" salve: direct donations to a number of local restaurants, providing much-needed revenue for local eateries at a moment in which indoor and outdoor dining are both shut down through at least the first week of January. Those restaurants can use those funds however they want, for operations or pass-alongs to their employees, many of whom have been furloughed during the shutdown.

Many of the restaurants are using some of the funds to buy gift cards that will be passed along to essential workers. One anonymous donor designated Grilly's as a recipient to provide 200 gift cards to employees at The Redwoods' senior community. (Donation recipients: the Mill Valley Chamber can recommend gift card recipients – email us here for some "Secret Santa" suggestions).

MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION VIA MARINLINK HERE. 

Indicate recipient(s) in the "In Honor of" portion of the form – we'll split the donation evenly among them. If you don't designate a business, we will pool not-designated donations to support the continued creation of $1,000 direct cash grants to the businesses that applied to our GoFundMe campaign in the spring and summer but weren't fulfilled with the funds raised.

Key details:

• We welcome donations of any size to the Mill Valley Thrive Fund to help our business community, and we have already received donations from $25 to $25,000.
• Donations of less than $100 will go into the General Fund for businesses that have previously applied for $1,000 direct cash grants. Applications for these grants closed in July 2020. We are no longer accepting new applications due to the overwhelming demand.
• Donations earmarked for a specific business must be $100 or more.
• Folks can specify multiple recipients at the $100+ level.
• Not one nickel of the funds raised will go to the Mill Valley Chamber. This is one more way we are trying to help an incredible community in pain. After you donate, please spread the word! 

To make a donation by check, please make checks out to "Mill Valley Thrive Fund" and mail to:

MarinLink
5800 Northgate Mall, Suite 250
San Rafael, CA 94903

Questions? Email us.

Want to know what's happening around town? Click here to subscribe to the Enjoy Mill Valley Blog by Email!

Restaurant owners from Mill Valley and all over Marin County threw their weight this week behind a Change.org petition crafted by Dustin Sullivan, owner of Guesthouse in Kentfield. In doing so, they sought a reconsideration of the current ban on outdoor dining for any region whose intensive care unit capacity has dipped below 15 percent during the current stay-at-home order and as COVID-19 case counts continue to climb statewide.

"I am writing to you on behalf of the employees who work for us; the employees who power our economy," Sullivan wrote. "Employees whose children are going hungry during the holidays, many of whom will likely get evicted from their homes once federal eviction moratoriums are lifted. Employees that I am personally purchasing groceries for out of my own pocket. Employees for whom I am their only lifeline."

READ THE FULL, HEARTFELT LETTER AND PETITION HERE. 

As of Dec. 31, the petition has garnered more than 4,500 signatures.

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While most Americans consider Abraham Lincoln one of our nation’s greatest heroes, some ridicule him as a country bumpkin or decry him as a dictator. And while most historians see the “Great Emancipator” as a champion of freedom for African Americans, some view him as a racist and hypocrite.

A presentation via the Outdoor Art Club's Zoom by historian Mick Chantler will delve into how these kaleidoscopic images of Lincoln evolved over time and explore which are valid.

This event, set for Thursday, January 14 at 1pm, is hosted on Zoom by the Outdoor Art Club. To register, click here: http://bit.ly/34Veae3
​
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Through the spring and summer of 2020, the Mill Valley community locked arms with local small businesses, donating to the Chamber's COVID-19 Mill Valley Business Fund, our campaign to raise funds for as many $1,000 direct cash grants as possible at a moment of crisis amidst the pandemic.

You donated, en masse, raising nearly $100,000 to support almost 100 grants to businesses. Due to the ever-murky prospects for local Mill Valley businesses on the horizon, we're hoping you'll take the opportunity to support your local community again, in a slightly different but no-less-meaningful way.

The biggest differences this time are that you have the ability to designate your donation specifically to your favorite business(es) and your donation is tax-deductible via MarinLink.org, our fiscal custodian and nonprofit partner. To make a donation online by credit card, click the Donate button below to be directed to the MarinLink website. 

In the "In Honor of" field, type in the names of the business(es) you'd like your donation to go to – we'll split the donation evenly among them. If you don't designate a business, we will pool not-designated donations to support the continued creation of $1,000 direct cash grants to the businesses that applied but weren't fulfilled with the funds raised.

MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION VIA MARINLINK HERE. 

Indicate recipient(s) in the "In Honor of" portion of the form – we'll split the donation evenly among them. If you don't designate a business, we will pool not-designated donations to support the continued creation of $1,000 direct cash grants to the businesses that applied to our GoFundMe campaign in the spring and summer but weren't fulfilled with the funds raised.

Key details:

• We welcome donations of any size to the Mill Valley Thrive Fund to help our business community, and we have already received donations from $25 to $25,000.
• Donations of less than $100 will go into the General Fund for businesses that have previously applied for $1,000 direct cash grants. Applications for these grants closed in July 2020. We are no longer accepting new applications due to the overwhelming demand.
• Donations earmarked for a specific business must be $100 or more.
• Folks can specify multiple recipients at the $100+ level.
• Not one nickel of the funds raised will go to the Mill Valley Chamber. This is one more way we are trying to help an incredible community in pain. After you donate, please spread the word! 

To make a donation by check, please make checks out to "Mill Valley Thrive Fund" and mail to:

MarinLink
5800 Northgate Mall, Suite 250
San Rafael, CA 94903

Questions? Email us.

​It took federal lawmakers seven months to reach an agreement on a desperately needed second round of stimulus to help ease the horrific impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. But they finally did just that this week, and President Trump is expected to sign it Tuesday.

The widespread hope is that the $900 billion stimulus package is able to provide a bridge to a rebound fueled by a broad, relatively speedy distribution of a coronavirus vaccine.

So what's in it for Mill Valley businesses?

​The biggest impact is much-needed relief for the 94941 sector most ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis: live music, theater and entertainment venues. As we've reported many times over the past nine months, the Sweetwater Music Hall, Throckmorton Theatre and Marin Theatre Company in particular have been thrashed by their complete inability to gather people in a room to experience live music and performance since mid-March. 

The relief comes in the form of the long-awaited Save Our Stages Act, which provides $15 billion "in dedicated funding for live venues, independent movie theaters, and cultural institutions," disbursed in grants through the Small Business Administration for venues that can show they have lost more than 25% of revenue. Venues that can demonstrate that they have lost more than 90 percent of their revenue will be able to apply first, within the first two weeks after the law is enacted, according to the New York Times. 

The package also includes a $300 per week unemployment insurance enhancement for the millions of Americans out of work during the pandemic, including nearly 100,000 live music professionals. It allows them to support payment to employees and handle other costs like rent. Grants will be capped at $10 million. At least 300 music spots have shut down since the start of the pandemic, according to NIVA.

“This is the lifeline our industry so desperately needs to emerge from a devastating year,” said Dayna Frank, owner and CEO, First Avenue Productions and board president of the National Independent Venues Association (NIVA), which led the lobbying effort for the Save Our Stages Act. “Without independent venues and promoters across the country working to engage their communities, staff, and artists, our voices would not have been heard – we are thankful for those tireless efforts. Careers came to a standstill overnight, and people continue to face personal hardships, which is why legislation like this and extending Pandemic Unemployment Assistance is essential.”

The stimulus also provides an additional $285 billion to revive the Paycheck Protection Program, which Mill Valley businesses took advantage of to the tune of $58 million earlier this year. The loans, guaranteed by the Small Business Administration but made by banks and other lenders, are designed to be forgiven if business owners comply with the program’s rules.

The bill calls for hotels and food-service businesses would be eligible for bigger loans this time, up to 3.5 times their average monthly payroll," according to the New York Times. Other borrowers would again be limited to 2.5 times their payroll. Publicly traded companies are not eligible, and the list of expenses that a loan could be used to pay was expanded beyond payroll, rent and utilities in the first PPP to now include supplies from vendors and protective equipment for staff.

But although the PPP provides an avenue for Mill Valley businesses to acquire relief that become grants by meeting certain conditions, independent restaurants like most of those in Mill Valley did not get the direct relief they sought within the Restaurants Act, a bipartisan bill that would have provided $120 billion in grants to smaller bars and restaurants to make up revenue lost due to coronavirus. Instead, lawmakers decided that new loans through the Paycheck Protection Program will have to do.

That disappointment stemmed from the fact that small business aid is only expected to cover less than three months of payroll costs, while many employers don’t expect to resume normal operations for more than six months.

The new package includes cash payments of up to $600 a person for households to millions of American adults earning up to $75,000 and revives lapsed supplemental federal unemployment benefits at $300 a week for 11 weeks. Those allotments are half the amount provided by the original stimulus law. Two programs – one for those not covered by traditional unemployment insurance, and another that provides aid after state benefits expire – will be extended for less than three months.

Dependents who are 17 and older will not be eligible for the $600 direct payments, although lawmakers agreed to provide direct checks to people who filed jointly with a person who uses an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number instead of a Social Security number. The last round of $1,200 stimulus payments prohibited that, blocking the estimated 1.2 million American citizens married to undocumented immigrants from receiving them.​

State and local budgets took the biggest hit in the down-to-the-wire negotiations, as legislators were unable to reach agreement on hundreds of billions of dollars to patch holes in state and local budgets that have cost 1.3 million jobs since March. Forecasters say the shortfall in revenue makes continuing layoffs likely.

“Congress leaving out local aid is like the Grinch that stole Christmas,” Larry Johnson, a commissioner for DeKalb County, Ga., just outside Atlanta, told the Washington Post. “We have to start looking at areas to cut.”

The deals also provides billions of dollars for testing, tracing and vaccine distribution, as well as an extension through the end of 2021 of the $15.3 billion in CARES Act funding allocated to California under the March stimulus law, ahead of a Dec. 31 deadline. According to Mill Valley City Manager Alan Piombo, a halt on the use of that funding into 2021 would have negatively impacted the city's budget, particularly as the state is adding new workplace safety COVID-19 requirements such as partitions between workspaces. That funding comes to Mill Valley via the County of Marin and proportional within Marin to its local population. 

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In the midst of a global pandemic, there certainly has been a dearth of the "meaningful, hopeful and beautiful" in 2020.

But for its first exhibit in 2021, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art is ready to shine a light on the amazing art that has been brought forth during these many tragic months. Running Jan. 9-Feb. 21, "Here and Now" is a stimulating exhibit featuring 90 local artists," MarinMOCA officials said in announcing the exhibit. "There has never been a time like here and now. Globally, it's the most challenging year of the 21st century, with more medical, social, and ecological disasters than ever before."

"In these difficult times art is essential, for makers and viewers alike," they continued. "The exhibiting artists have responded with work that is meaningful, hopeful and beautiful."

Mill Valley gallerist and curator, Kim Eagles-Smith, who opened his gallery in the 94941 in 2019, is jurying the exhibit. His eponymous Kim Eagles-Smith Gallery is at 23 Sunnyside Avenue and is open Tue.-Fri., 10:30am-5:30pm, Sat.-Sun., 11am-5pm and by appointment. MORE INFO on MarinMOCA.

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As we've been reporting for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis, few sectors of our local economy have been hit harder than arts organizations, which have been thrashed by their complete inability to gather people in a room to experience art, live music and performance since mid-March. 

In recognition of that fact, the Marin Cultural Association, a nonprofit arm of the county’s department of cultural services, created the Arts & Culture Recovery Fund to provide grants to organizations directly impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions.  

The fund just awarded 15 Marin County arts organizations with grants totaling $51,575, including five with direct ties to Mill Valley: Marin Theatre Company ($4,500), Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival ($500), Mill Valley Philharmonic ($3,500), Mountain Play Association ($5,000) and O'Hanlon Center for the Arts (3,800).  

“Art teaches us empathy, understanding and appreciation for those who have had different life experiences. The arts reflect not only who we are, but who we aspire to be,” Gabriella Calicchio, Director of Marin County Cultural Services and MCA Executive Director, said in a statement. “Even before COVID-19, the arts in Marin were threatened by the reality of surviving in a community that has huge disparities racially and economically.”

The Arts & Culture Recovery Fund began with initial contributions from the California Arts Council, the Marin Community Foundation, the Fenwick Foundation, private donations and a separate $15,000 from CARES Act funding. Grants were awarded to arts organizations that reflect and serve Marin’s diverse communities, Calicchio said. 

MORE INFO.

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Laura Eberhard, medical director of the ICU at Kaiser Permanente San Rafael Medical Center, stood at the epicenter of the two polar extremes of COVID-19 crisis news this week.

On one hand, the arrival of the first batch of vaccines, reserved for health-care workers, first responders and long-term care facility residents, "is a really historic day" that “signals the beginning of the end of the epidemic,” Eberhard said. 

Marin Public Health Officer Dr. Matt Willis also revealed that Marin's coronavirus case counts are "the lowest raw case rates in the state." But in a state that is on fire with COVID-19 cases spiking just about everywhere in California, he cautioned that "I don’t share this to offer false security, but to articulate we have done a good job controlling it."

On the other hand, however, the Bay Area's official drop to 12.9% of available ICU capacity – below the 15% trigger established by the state – officially kicked in the state's stay-at-home order that Bay Area health officials had adopted preemptively on Dec. 8. 

"I have never seen anything quite like we are confronting now," Eberhard told the Marin County Board of Supervisors this week about the news that Marin is on target to eclipse its previous high of hospitalizations in July, when the summer surge coincided with an outbreak at San Quentin State Prison and inmates were being treated in Marin’s hospitals. "I find the possibility of an overflowing ICU scary. We are not the first line. We are the last line. By the time people get to us, it is pretty late in the game."

At the soonest, the lockdown could be lifted after three weeks, like between Jan. 6-9, depending on the Bay Area’s remaining ICU capacity. At that point, each county's designation within the state's four-tier system for reopening – Marin, like just about the entire rest of the state, is in the most restrictive purple tier – would kick in.

"Just a month ago, we wanted to stay in orange tier," Willis noted. "Our case rates are four times higher than they were one month ago."

Willis made it clear that the ICU crisis was not just about available beds, but the ability to find enough staff for those beds. "The question is how many beds can you actually staff – right now, that’s a smaller number than the number of beds," he said. "This is unprecedented. The historical systems where you shift staff around, working with hiring agencies and find traveling doctors and nurses, are not working right now. All of those resources are tapped out."

"Ultimately, the solution is to reduce the number of people rolling in with infections that require critical care," he added. 

It goes without saying that with the stay-at-home order running through at least Jan. 6, and with Marin likely emerging from the order within the purple tier that maintains prohibitions and restrictions on most of the major business sectors in Marin, the need for Mill Valley residents to support your community and #ShopMV, #EatMV and #BeMV is greater than ever before.

Luckily, we've got you covered:

Famous4, Margaret O’Leary, Ambatalia, Mike’s Cameras, Jolly King, Pollen + Wool and Poet and/the Bench are among the participating businesses at this holiday shopping experience. 

Running behind on your holiday shopping?

Want to Shop Local AND do so from the comfort of your couch?

We’ve got you covered.

Inspired by our friends in Sausalito, the Mill Valley Chamber's very first Shop@Home MV event is a free, easy way for late-blooming holiday shoppers to support local businesses via Zoom while staying safe during the stay-at-home order.

Featuring an array of special items from the likes of Famous4, Margaret O’Leary, Ambatalia, Mike’s Cameras, Jolly King, Pollen + Wool and Poet and/the Bench, Shop@Home MV, a unique holiday shopping experience, will have something for everyone on your holiday shopping list.
​
Register for free here or below and join the Zoom event from 6-7:30pm on December 21 to hear directly from local retailers about their wares. Items you agree to purchase will be shipped to you or you can arrange for contact-less pick up.

As our businesses try to recover amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s support them and have some fun!

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The Mill Valley Chamber provides an array of benefits to its members, including education, advocacy, a communications pipeline that directly connects to the broader 94941 via maps, magazines the Enjoy Milll Valley Blog, as well as networking (virtually now and physically when we're able to be together) and much more. Among those benefits is a weekly curation of headlines (see below) from near and far within the Chamber's weekly Friday Flash newsletter.

Want these curated headlines in your inbox each week? A tax-deductible donation of $75 or more to the Enjoy Mil Valley Fund, which supports shovel-ready beautification and infrastructure improvements throughout Mill Valley, from flower plantings and restoration of landmarks like the Gravity Car and Clock Tower to the free Movies in the Park series, will make you a Community Member of the Chamber, giving you many of the benefits above.

Stay informed, support your community and be an engine for vitality in the coolest place in Marin (yes, we're biased). 

MAKE YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION HERE! 

Dear Mill Valley Community,

We hope you are safe and well as the holidays begin and this challenging year comes to a close.

When my husband, Bruce, and I joined the board of the Throckmorton Theatre earlier this year, the world had just changed forever and the theatre had gone dark. But as we spent quiet time in its once bustling rooms, thinking of strategies to help this treasure in our village survive, it was a privilege and a wonder to listen to the walls talk:

Revisiting memories of its early days as a silent movie theatre beginning in 1915, with George Cooke as the manager; Hearing stories of Lucy Mercer’s bravery and vision, taking on this little corner of town and turning it into the center of its soul;
Standing in awe amidst Steve Coleman’s fanciful scenes painted on every inch of every room, in a palette of colors and style so unique to this incredible space; Remembering the voices of Robin Williams, Mort Sahl and so many others who considered it a sanctuary, where their privacy was protected and their creative inspiration nurtured; Revisiting recordings of all types of world-class music - from rock to jazz to chamber - that filled the noon times, night times and festival weekends.

And as one month led to another, the windows on the street came alive with puppets and miniatures, telling stories to the children who continue to visit daily and exciting the imaginations of passers by. 

The marquee chimed in with hopeful messages of strength, caring and compassion. Black Lives Matter erupted in full voice and the marquee joined in solidarity. Ruth Bader Ginsburg left this world, and the marquee held her inspiring thoughts.

Youth actors appeared on scene, with a twinkle in their eyes behind their masks. Unstoppable in their desire to express themselves and their craft, they rehearsed on Zoom and performed in the park. They sat apart in Covid-safe classes and explored social justice through the arts. 

And the village showed their ongoing belief in the magic this theatre has to offer by joining our fundraiser for streaming equipment.  Our team immersed themselves in the challenges of new technology, and professional-quality tests made our hearts sing again! If we can survive into a new year, joy and music are ready to erupt from the rooms once more. 

It is difficult to create economics around something that is like air, that is magic. But the Throckmorton Theatre needs everyone’s support and financial help to survive this incredible world upheaval. With your generous donation, we hope to reach our goal of $400,000, so that artists can return to the stage and audiences to the seats. 

Mill Valley is such a unique place made up of special people. It is home to one of the most creative communities in the world. And the artistic crown jewel of our little European-style town is, without doubt, the Throckmorton Theatre.

The end of the year – especially this one – is a wonderful time to count our blessings and dream of hopeful possibilities in the New Year. Please join us in ensuring the presence of the Throckmorton Theatre for generations to come. It’s difficult to imagine our special village without it! 

Thank you! We are so grateful for your continued generosity! 

Mary Dilts and Bruce Tremayne

​DONATE HERE.

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In the years since Mill Valley Lumber Yard opened, it's become a multi-faceted community gathering space and retail and foodie destination.

Its spaces span an array of uses, including the much-lauded Watershed Restaurant from Ged Robertson and Kyle Swain, Flour Craft Bakery from Heather Hardcastle and Rick Perko, Stacy King's Lulu Design Jewelry, Louise Dockstader's Once Around, Mad Dogs & Englishman, an innovative, creative bicycle shop from Jennifer Blevins and Martin Watson, longtime MVLY stalwarts in Molly de Vries' Ambatalia and Gayle Nicoletti’s Bloomingayles, Suzy Ekman’s Makers Market, Amy Lowery’s The Edit, Brit Morin's Makeshop and Paige Mycoskie's Aviator Nation. Not to mention artist Victoria Mimiaga's studio upstairs and an array of artist, designer and business spaces.

It's all enough to warrant its own blog!

So MVLY has done just that, debuting it this month to highlight the array of creativity and community spirit at 129 Miller Avenue. The blog's first post is about female-owned businesses and holiday shopping.

MVLY is also serving up some free holiday music this week, Dec. 19-20, from 11am-1pm from Trio Viva. 

Second, we will be having music this weekend for holiday shoppers to enjoy while they shop.  If you wouldn't mind including this information on your next post- we would be grateful!

"For some holiday fun, try to find the cute woodland creatures hidden around the Lumber Yard as part of our Holiday Hide 'n Seek as well as the silver stars from the MV Chamber Winterfest Holiday Hunt in the window of our retail stores and eateries," they said in announcing the weekend's festivities. "We hope to share some holiday cheer while you support these important local businesses." 

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Like every commercial hub in Mill Valley, the owners of the Strawberry Village shopping center are looking to provide some excitement to their customers within the constraints of, well....you know.

To that end, they've launched a number of creative contests, campaigns and drives to help those in need. The businesses within Strawberry Village are also serving up an array of special offers. Check them out here.

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Regular readers of this space know that while every Mill Valley business has been economically ravaged by the COVID-19 crisis, few have suffered more than the likes of the Sweetwater Music Hall, Throckmorton Theatre and Marin Theatre Company.

Each organization has managed its fate distinctly.

MTC unveiled its 54th season's slate of productions in October, kicking off the season in November with its production of American Dreams, an interactive game show live via Zoom in which the audience helps to decide who wins citizenship to the U.S. MTC has flooded the zone with content related to its past, present and future productions, staying deeply connected to its audience as its eyes an uncertain future that it hopes will allow in-person productions in late 2021.

The usually feverish pace at the Throckmorton Theatre, typically a nonstop hive of creativity, from jam-jacked comedy shows and concerts across multiple genres to theatrical productions and art shows and more, has slowed immensely. The Throckmorton's longstanding partnership with SF Opera Orchestra musicians provided the #MillerTakeover street closures a weekly, gorgeous classical music soundtrack. And now the theater hopes to launch its first online project, “Blue Yonder,” Kate Aspengren’s collection of monologues that was filmed in the theater one at a time with safety measures in place, according to the Marin Independent Journal. They're also ready to stream performances from the space's Tivoli Room and Main Stage.

But through the past nine months of silenced sonic art in the 94941, MTC and Throckmorton have had something the Sweetwater lacked: the ability to appeal directly to its loyal followers for tax-deductible donations. Other than a successful an IndieGogo campaign that raised more than $18,000 to support furloughed employees, there hasn't been a way for the community to directly support the Sweetwater.

But not anymore. 

In a note to its patrons and the larger Bay Area music community, the Sweetwater board of directors announced the creation of a new California 501c3 non-profit public benefit organization, which has begun operating the Sweetwater's music and education programming.

"The mission of our new non-profit is to ensure the infinite legacy of Sweetwater, not only by continuing to support the music that reflects the cultural diversity of Marin County and the greater San Francisco Bay Area, but also by showcasing all forms of arts and education to future generations," Sweetwater officials wrote. "Your fully tax-deductible donation is a thank you note for the past and a promise to the future."

"Since the original Sweetwater first opened its doors in 1972, and throughout the journey to our current state-of-the-art location, our iconic Sweetwater stage has hosted legends," they continued. "And like you, we’ve missed these artists and all the others who have graced our venue. But our who’s-who of rock & roll history is only part of our story. Because Sweetwater is community. It’s education. A center of belonging. Everyone is always welcome. Arms, hearts, and minds wide open."

DONATE TO THE SWEETWATER MUSIC HALL HERE.

DONATE TO MARIN THEATRE COMPANY HERE.

DONATE TO THE THROCKMORTON THEATRE HERE.

There remains some optimism that music and theatrical venues will get some financial relief via the Save Our Stages Act, a bipartisan relief package for venues and indie music presenters that has the support of both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN). The Save Our Stages Act would provide grants to independent live music venues, festivals, promoters and agencies that have lost nearly 100 percent of their revenue since the pandemic. A companion bill in the House is led by U.S. Reps. ​Peter Welch (D-VT) and Roger Williams (R-TX).

In an effort to save irreplaceable venues like the Sweetwater, more than 1,300 venues formed the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), retaining powerhouse lobbying firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to seek tax relief and more flexible loan programs. The organization is leaning on the overall impact of live music as an "economic multiplier," a powerful force whose events have positive ripple effects on surrounding businesses like restaurants, retail shops and hotels. According to a 2017 study from the National Endowment for the Arts, the value added by arts and culture to the U.S. economy is "five times greater than the value of the agricultural sector."

MORE INFO ON THE SAVE OUR STAGES ACT.

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​In a note Friday to its customers and the larger 94941 community, Piazza D'Angelo owners Luigi Petrone and Felicia Ferguson announced that they were closing their restaurant "until the stay-at-home ordinance is lifted on Jan 4," "due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases and for the safety of our families and staff.

"While we would have loved to remain open to serve to-go and keep every staff person on, we simply can’t afford to do so," they wrote. "As a small, family-run business, we wanted to say a sincere thank you to the many people who have supported our restaurant throughout this crazy year. From contributing to our Go-Fund-Me for out of work staff, dining with us out on Miller Avenue, and ordering take-out and meal kits, it’s thanks to you all that we’ve been able to remain afloat during these unprecedented times and keep alive the business started by our fathers 39 years ago."
 
"We can’t wait to raise a glass with you in our restaurant when this is all over," they added. "In the meantime, we will be working on some exciting improvements to our outdoor dining spaces as we strive to serve up some dolce vita as soon as it’s safe to do so. Stay tuned for more updates from us on social media. We'd also like to ask that you join us in doing everything you can to keep our local small businesses afloat during this new stay at home order. Buy your holiday gifts from local retail establishments. Order takeout from your local eateries that are still open. Buy gift cards from those that are not. The hope and promise of better days ahead in 2021 -- when we can again embrace, gather, and celebrate at our beloved community institutions -- that’s what we’re fighting to preserve. May you stay happy and healthy this Holiday Season, and we look forward to serving you all again in 2021!"

Sign Here to Support the Restaurants Act
Purchase a Gift Card

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