One month after the passing of Robin Williams, the legendary comedian and actor and longtime Mill Valley fixture, hundreds of cyclists gathered at Blackie's Pasture on Sunday morning to begin "Robin's Ride," a jaunt around the famed Paradise Loop ride that Williams loved to do himself for years. The event was organized by the Marin County Bicycle Coalition and featured brief speeches by Coalition Director Jim Elias and famed American cyclist and commentator Bob Roll. Even organizers seems taken aback by the massive turnout.

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Zero Breast Cancer, a San Rafael-based nonprofit organization focused on research, prevention and education, hosts its 12th annual Dipsea Hike on Saturday, September 13 at 8 a.m. in Old Mill Park.

Seeking to both heighten awareness about the benefits of physical activity in reducing breast cancer risk as well as raise money for continued research, Zero Breast Cancer hosts its 12th Annual Dipsea Hike on Saturday, Sept, 13 in Old Mill Park – and volunteers are needed for the day of event.

The San Rafael-based nonprofit organization, which focuses on research, prevention and education, has been hosting the event since 2002, when Annie Fox, a former ZBC board member, Marin County employee, avid trail runner and breast cancer advocate who died of breast cancer at the age of 35, created it. The event continues to be held in her honor. This 12th annual event also honors Jerry Leith, who died in 2012 of cancer.  After Fox's death, Leith, also an avid runner, carried on her inspiration and assumed a leadership role in coordinating the Dipsea Hike for eight years.  

The event has raised more than $250,000 in support of ZBC’s research and educational programs and more than 2,500 people have participated.


"When you join the Zero Breast Cancer volunteer family, you’ll unite with others who have been affected by breast cancer and you’ll help us prevent breast cancer in the next generation," said ZBC Executive Director Janice Barlow.


Volunteer tasks include: Pre-hike check in of teams and individuals, post-hike check in, set up crew, aid and cheering stations, food stations and post event clean up. For full details and to register as a volunteer, click here. To register to participate in the Dipsea Hike, click here or call Marissa at the Zero Breast Cancer office 415-507-1949, ext 105.

The Dipsea Hike for Zero Breast Cancer is an all ages noncompetitive 6-mile course starting at the Dipsea steps in Mill Valley. Check-in is at 8 a.m., with a 9 a.m. start. This year’s honorary event chair, inspirational speaker and lead hiker is Astronaut Yvonne Cagle, who graduated from Novato High in 1977. Dr. Cagle Yvonne Cagle was a member of the Astronaut Class of 1996. After completing the hike, there will be a celebration in Old Mill Park with food, music, fundraising prizes and a raffle.

Zero Breast Cancer was founded in 1995 and is a community based organization dedicated to prevention and finding the causes of breast cancer through local participation in the scientific research process. They focus on identifying environmental factors and the role they play in breast cancer at all stages of life and across generations. To find out more about Zero Breast Cancer’s work, visit zerobreastcancer.org

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Joe Serbaroli is keenly aware of his family’s history, and the vital need to pass it down to the next generation.

But although Serbaroli lives in Yonkers, N.Y. and traces his family roots back to Roma, Italy, that lineage has deep ties to the City of Mill Valley.

That’s because in 1914 – 100 years ago – Serbaroli’s grandfather, artist Ettore (pronounced Et-toh-ray) “Hector” Serbaroli, created the enormous landscape painting of Mount Tamalpais found on the back wall of the City Council Chambers at City Hall.

At five feet high and 20 feet long, the oil-on-canvas landscape of Mount Tam is one of six paintings completed by the Italian-born Serbaroli for the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915. It was lifted to its current location by a crane via one of the windows in the Council Chambers.

The painting took a circuitous route to get to City Hall.

When the Pan Pacific Exposition ended, the painting was mounted on a wall at the Ferry Building in San Francisco. A member of the Yost family, whose patriarch Nicholas Yost gave the original Mill Valley Lumber Company its moniker in 1910, bought the painting in 1928 and hung it on the wall of the Mill Valley Bank on Miller Avenue until 1947. From 1954 to 1974, the painting lived in the City Council Chambers, until it was temporarily removed to accommodate renovations at City Hall.

According to a memo from longtime Mill Valley resident Margaret  “Kett” Zegart to Mill Valley’s Art Commission in the 1970s, the painting was stored in a space at the Mill Valley Library that would later become the Lucretia Hanson Little History Room. Much of the available historical information about the painting comes – as does much of Mill Valley’s history – from the work of Little herself.

The years that followed the painting’s move to the library were laden with contentious debate about the painting’s future, Joe Serbaroli says, with city officials exploring possible alternate locations like Tamalpais High School, Oddfellows Hall and auditorium at The Redwoods. By October 1976, the Mill Valley Art Commission motioned “to wrap up in brown paper, to tie with a string and to store the Mt. Tamalpais Painting by E. Serbaroli in the Library.”

A dispute ensued about the painting’s future, and whether it was worth it to restore the painting – and who should pay for it if it was restored. Restoration estimates ranged from $2,500 to $4,000. 

“There seemed to be quite a lot of animosity at City Hall about the restoration and who should pay for it,” Joe Serbaroli says.

The debate was eventually quelled by a fundraising drive led by the late, famed puppeteer Lettie Schubert and her husband Gage. In reaching out to potential donors, the Schuberts wrote that the painting “presents a dramatic view of the mountain and its upland meadows as they were in 1914. The serene stateliness of this beloved southern Marin area is perfectly captured in the peaceful grandeur of Serbaroli’s composition.” 

Their “Serbaroli Restoration Committee” raised the more than $4,000 necessary to restore the painting, drawing financial support from the likes of William Kent III, Lucretia Little, Judith Serbaroli, then-Mill Valley Mayor Ivan Poutiatine, the Tamalpais Conservation Club, the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival Association and many more.

Joe Serbaroli, 60, says he always had a strong sense of his grandfather’s artistry, but not his legacy. When his own father was getting older in the early 2000s, he began peppering him with questions about his grandfather, who died in 1951 at the age of 70.

“I didn’t want that legacy to get lost,” he says.

Serbaroli, who was born in Rome in 1881, lived and worked in Mexico for seven years until 1913, when the revolution there forced him to flee. With the help of Congressman William Kent, who played a critical role in the creation of Muir Woods National Monument, Serbaroli moved to San Rafael.

His prominent work isn’t limited to the 94941. He’s credited with the 14 “Stations of the Cross” paintings at Saint Raphael Church in San Rafael that were recently restored. He painted the entire interior of the Church of Saints Peter in Paul in San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, with the help of his daughter Judith.

And he worked for the architect Julia Morgan on the interior of William Randolph Hearst's castle at San Simeon before he headed off to Hollywood, where her did portraits of actors at major motion picture studios like Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox until just before his death.

Three years ago, through a chance encounter downtown with Mill Valley Fire Department Battalion Chief Michael St. John on a day that City Hall was closed, Serbaroli was able to show off the painting to his 26-year-old daughter Elise.

“I just looked up at that painting and was amazed – here we were, the grandson and great granddaughter of the artist who painted it sitting there with Mike, looking back at history,” Serbaroli says.

From his widely lauded film "The Invisible Peak" to his viral video time lapse from the Mount Tamalpais fire lookout, with a bevy of films throughout the 94941 in between, Mill Valley filmmaker Gary Yost has shown boundless creativity in casting his lens from and upon the Sleeping Lady.

Over the past weekend during his shift at the Mt. Tam fire lookout, Yost created a pair of breathtaking videos of the mountain, Mill Valley and the Bay Area. The first shows them blanketed in fog under a silvery-blue full moonlight. "It’s a new way of looking at something we all deal with during the summer but never are able to see for what it is… a magical mysterious tsunami of vapor that erases almost all traces of civilization every evening," Yost says.

The second video, 30 seconds long, features a Sun Glory, which is "an optical phenomenon that resembles an iconic saint's halo about the shadow of the observer's head. This Glory manifested in the fog below me as a rainbow halo around the Fire Lookout’s moving shadow as I was leaving my shift on Sunday morning — and it’s amazing," Yost says.

Brilliant work as usual, Gary!

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Reading and walking at the same time aren't often a good idea – just ask the folks walking and texting in the "No Cellphones" lane on a DC sidewalk – but at the Mill Valley Public Library, the two make for the perfect combination for the Library’s 2014 Adult Reading Challenge: Steps, Lanes, and Paths. Inspired by Mill Valley’s extensive network of over 175 heritage paths dating back to the 1880s, the Library is serving up a literary expedition that encourages readers to explore new literary landscapes while becoming actively acquainted with the city that many call home.

The Adult Reading Challenge centers around a “reading map” featuring the steps, lanes, and paths of Mill Valley. The 133 steps, lanes, and paths featured on the reading map correspond to a particular reading challenge category relating to peoples, places, genres and much, much more. Participants are challenged to read one book for each path by the challenge’s end on December 31, 2014. As participants undertake the literary challenge, they are also encouraged (but not required) to explore Mill Valley and celebrate its perambulatory heritage by walking the corresponding steps, lanes, and paths on the reading map.

“It’s been a personal goal of mine to walk every step, lane, and path in Mill Valley,” said Ali Birnbach, reference librarian and organizer of the reading challenge. “I know how enjoyable and unexpectedly refreshing it can be to explore the city through its back roads, and a reading challenge seemed like the perfect way to share the experience. A good reading challenge gives participants a general guide and lets them decide how they want to approach it. This year’s theme lets you literally choose your own path(s).”
 
The breadth of categories in this year’s challenge is extensive, from “Voyages of Discovery and Adventure” and “International Female Authors” to “How Can I Help You? The Service Industry” and “An Event or Experience Your Parents Lived Through,” among many others. Categories serve as inspirational starting points and are open to readers’ personal interpretation, meaning that readers are sure to find books to spark their interest. If that wasn’t motivation enough, over the duration of the challenge participants will have chances to win fantastic prizes, including an iPad Mini. For each book read, participants will earn one raffle ticket. The more books read, the more raffle tickets earned, and the more chances to win.

The Adult Reading Challenge is open now. Adults ages 18 and older are invited to register online through the Library’s website. Registrants should then stop by the Library Reference Desk to pick up a reading map. If participants are looking for reading suggestions, librarians at the Mill Valley Library can offer book recommendations. The Library’s website also features a wide array of book lists. 

“We announced our reading challenge last Monday and we currently have nearly 100 participants,” said Birnbach. “It’s a great start to what we hope will be one of our best reading challenges yet!”

In addition to the Adult Reading Challenge, the Mill Valley Public Library offers separate summer reading programs for kids, middle schoolers, and young adults. Visit the Library’s website for more information about any of these programs. 

Like many Mill Valley business owners, when Erin Seavey and Dave Tint sought inspiration for their newly expanded and newly named business, they simply looked up – to Mount Tamalpais.

In mid-July, the pair are launching Mt. Tam Dog Company at 6 Miller Ave., where Seavey has owned the Alpha Dog retail shop for more than two years. The new moniker is a reflection of an expanded business that includes a dog walking service and sees the Sleeping Lady as its muse and its playground.

“We’re using Mount Tam as the backdrop for everything we believe in for people and their pets,” says Seavey, a Marin native who grew up in Novato. “We’re all about the health and fitness of dogs, love of the great outdoors. On the mountain’s hiking trails, we have the ability to be out in nature with our dogs.”

Under the new model, Seavey is the “den mother” of the retail shop and Tint is the “pack leader” of the dog walking business.

Tint, a Tiburon resident who’s been walking dogs for years, says he’s “all about bringing accountability to the dog walking business,” namely by using GPS to map out every route he takes dogs on – mostly fire roads – allowing clients to know “where your dog has been and what kind of exercise they had.” The dog walking service will include a maximum of six dogs at a time, on leash, primarily on fire roads.

Clients can also have input into the process, as Tint has categorized all of the trails he uses just like ski resorts do with ski trails, from “bunny slopes to double black diamonds.”

“I always tell people that my job wouldn’t be the same if I lived in Texas,” he adds.

That focus on accountability, Tint says, was inspired by its antithesis: he recalls seeing dog walkers with 10 dogs at a time in San Francisco, sitting on a bench and drinking a latte while the dogs scurried about.

As for the retail shop, Seavey says longtime Alpha Dog customers will still be able to find their favorites, especially custom doggie beds and custom collars. But they’ll also notice a clear shift toward being an “mini REI for dogs and people,” with a heavy emphasis on dog products like travel food bowls, doggie boots for the desert and life jackets for four-legged seafarers.

“We’re all about reflecting an outdoor passion for nature and staying fit, both for dogs and people,” Seavey says.

The 411: Alpha Dog retail shop will close on July 9, and Mt. Tam Dog Company plans to reopen one week later. 6 Miller Avenue. 415.389.6500. Click here for more info.

Fairfax filmmaker John Vigran recently unveiled this “Get on a Bike with MCBC” video to help promote the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, with the help of a team of coalition volunteers. On the heels of the coalition's fantastic work providing complimentary valet bicycle parking at the 2014 Mill Valley Market Wine, Beer & Gourmet Food Tasting event, we thought it was a good time to share the love. See more of Vigran’s work at Wild Heart Pictures.

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The City of Mill Valley is taking its celebrated emergency preparedness efforts to the backyard – your backyard, that is. 

In an effort to spread the word about the emergency-ready gear and skills that residents already have at their fingertips, the City is hosting on Saturday, June 7 its first-ever Ready Mill Valley Backyard Campout, an exciting, fun-filled event that promises to give every member of your family a greater sense of resiliency in the face of a disaster – without feeling like homework. 

"Summer is almost here! Let's all dig out our camping gear and spend a night under the stars with our family and friends to celebrate the inaugural Backyard Campout and show off our emergency preparedness skills!" Mill Valley Mayor Stephanie Moulton-Peters says. 

The Backyard Campout has two arenas: residents can participate with other families, neighbors and friends by pitching a tent outside the Mill Valley Community Center for a night of fun-filled games, entertainment, activities, a barbecue and campfire (S’mores!) – or they can camp in their own backyards and test their resiliency from afar.

“It’s tough to prioritize the What-IF of a disaster over the What-IS of daily life,” says Mike Jacobs, the CERT training officer and vice chair of the City’s Emergency Preparedness Commission. “To make that easier for folks, we started with what people already prioritize (fun, family time and outdoor adventure) that could also be useful in a disaster … and the Backyard Campout was born.” 

Activities at the Community Center will include: 

• CERT Ride Along Relay – Join your CERT strike team leader as you deploy through an earthquake-ravaged Mill Valley, assessing building damage, communicating via radio to command and locate and assisting an injured neighbor.
• Fun games and arts & crafts, such as making (and decorating) your own first-aid kit.
• Family-friendly entertainment, including a sing-a-long and magic show.
• A host of emergency preparedness displays and info.
• Tours of Mill Valley’s newest fire engine.
• Fire extinguisher demonstrations.

While those camping in the comfort of their own backyards won’t get to experience all of the great food, activities and entertainment at the Community Center in person, we’ll provide plenty of suggestions for games and activities to make the most of this unique experience. 

The foundation of the event, according to Mill Valley Fire Department Chief Jeff Davidson, is realizing that the basic elements of camping go a long way in getting you ready to deal with the aftermath of a disaster. 

“If you can camp out at your home or at the Mill Valley Community Center for one night, you are demonstrating a level of resiliency,” Davidson said. 

Click here for more details and to register for the Ready Mill Valley Backyard Campout. 

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Fresh off its best season in years, in which the Mountain Play’s 100th anniversary production of The Sound of Music drew more than 20,000 attendees, the venerable outdoor theater institution heads to South Pacific.

Beginning May 18, the Mountain Play is presenting the Tony Award-winning musical South Pacific, the adaptation of James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel Tales of the South Pacific. 

Directed by Linda Dunn, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific is set in an island paradise during World War II, focusing on a pair of parallel love stories, one between the spunky Ensign Nellie Forbush and local French plantation owner Emile de Becque, and the other between Lieutenant Joseph Cable and a young native woman Liat.

With a backdrop of 1940’s sailors and nurses trapped in the middle ground between war and peace, the story candidly and sensitively explores the issue of racial prejudice.

 Considered one of the greatest musicals of all time, it has seen numerous productions and award-winning revivals. The musical was adapted in 1958 into a film that starred Mitzi Gaynor and Rosanno Bratzi. South Pacific is musically rich with songs that have become popular standards such as “Bali Ha’i,” “Younger Than Springtime” and the beautiful “Some Enchanted Evening.”

Pre-Show Entertainment & Themes

In addition to the headline show, pre-show activities and musical acts provide entertainment for the whole family. Puppet shows by Fratello Marionettes are held at 11:30 am and 1 pm daily. Each day has a special theme with preshow entertainment at 12:30pm tailored to the interest of the patrons:

• Kids & Family Day (May 18) – preshow entertainment by Sharon Boucher’s Future Stars of Marin
  
• Military Veteran Day (May 25) – preshow entertainment by Singers Marin
  
• LGBT Day (June 1) – preshow entertainment by The Lollipop Guild – An Ensemble from the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus
  
• Singles Day (June 7) – preshow entertainment by ‘Til Dawn
  
• GLEEK/Musical Theatre Geek Day (June 8) – preshow entertainment by Marin Summer Theater
  
• Luau Day (June 15) – preshow entertainment/Hawaiian Music and Dance

The 411: The Mountain Play’s 101st season is a production of South Pacific. Performances are on Sundays, May 18, May 25, June 1, June 8, June 15 and Saturday June 7. All shows begin at 2 pm. The Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre is at 801 Panoramic Hwy., Mill Valley. Tickets range from $20-$40. General Admission.  

Patrons are asked to arrive at least one hour prior to show time, and are encouraged to carpool, hike, or bike to the venue as parking is limited. FREE parking is available in Mill Valley with FREE shuttle buses to the theatre. 

For more info and to buy tickets, click here or call (415) 383-1100.

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In the more than three decades since Blithedale Canyon resident Debra Schwartz moved to the Bay Area, her sense of wonder about Mount Tamalpais – particularly its geology, its Native American history and its flora and fauna – has never waned.

After getting her degree in Native American Studies at the University of California-Berkeley two years ago, Schwartz decided to spread that sense of wonder to others, and earlier this year, she formalized that move in the form of Tam Hiking Tours, a new business in town that she says “is all about showcasing the mountain and showcasing Mill Valley.”

“I like to think of Mill Valley as a destination unto itself,” Schwartz says. “This is the community where I live and where I always want to be. I want to promote Mill Valley. When people get done with a hike with me, they’ll want to go get some ice cream, have a beer or go see a show. We’ve got everything here.”

Tam Hiking Tours leads weekly walks ranging from two to seven miles on some of Tam’s best trails, including Blithedale Ridge and Elinor Ridge Fire Road. She also sets up personalized tours based on individual or group needs and interests.

Each group meets up at Illumigarden near City Hall and the Sweetwater Music Hall, with Schwartz often arranging for boxed lunches from her favorite local restaurants.

Schwartz, who grew up in Fresno and spent much of her childhood visiting Yosemite National Park, says the key distinctive element of her operation is its focus on the fascinating geology and vast Native American history of Mount Tam and the surrounding region.

“In my travels in the world I have yet to find anything like this place, and I'm delighted to share it with others,” she says. 

The 411: Click here for more info on Tam Hiking Tours. And check out their calendar of hikes here.

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