Mill Valley Lumber Yard owners Matt and Jan Mathews and their ever-growing roster of tenants have transformed the historic property into a winter wonderland in December, and they've got a pair of events to get people in the holiday spirit this week.

First up is the latest edition of 'Enchanted Evenings,' a series of holiday shopping happy hour events designed as "a great way for folks to shop for the holidays and have fun at the same time!" Jan Mathews says. The event is set for Thursday, Dec. 6 from 5-7pm at the Lumber Yard, 129 Miller Avenue. The series runs through Dec. 20.

Flour Craft Bakery and the soon-to-open Watershed Restaurant will provide "delectable baked goods" and "piping hot soup," respectively, while MVLY's host of retails tenants, including Ambatalia, Bloomingayles, The Edit, FarmHouseUrban, Makers Market, Spirited Marin and the newest tenant, Aviator Nation, will be open for business. There will also be a wine tasting featuring local Bay Area wineries and live acoustic guitar music. Artists Victoria Mimiaga, Francis Whitnall and Guy Chambers will also have their MVLY studios open during these events.

Two days later, on Saturday, Dec. 8 from 10am-5pm, Makers Market hosts its latest Outdoor Market. As usual, the event boasts more than 25 independent creators, artists and makers who will be showcasing their wares, including jewelry, handbags, ceramics, glassware, soaps, candles and more throughout the property. There will also be live music throughout the event. 

This month's Outdoor Market also boasts a visit from Santa with photo opportunities, as well as holiday carolers and hot chocolate. 

NOTE: Help the environment and take advantage of the easy transit, pedestrian and bike access to the Lumber Yard, with 60 bike parking spaces onsite. If you need to drive, don’t park in front of neighbors homes as there is ample median public parking in the surrounding area.

Here's a recent Bay Area People piece on the Mill Valley Lumber Yard by KTVU Channel 2:

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Renowned Mill Valley historian Chuck Oldenburg has teamed up with the Mill Valley Historical Society to publish Mill Valley History Vignettes, a collection of 150 vignettes, serving up an attractive, informative work that'll make the perfect holiday gift for local history buffs. 

Oldenburg will be signing books at the MVHS First Wednesday speaker event on Druid Heights at the Mill Valley Library on December 5 at 6:30pm. One week later on Dec. 12, Oldenburg will do the same at 7pm at the Library. 

You can also buy the book online here. Books are $10 for MVHS members/$15 non-members.

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Chris Wanner has been in the wine industry for nearly 20 years.

​And while the wine business is as global as it comes, with nary a vineyard-free landscape – wines from Ethiopia, anyone? – Wanner makes no bones about his favorite wine region and the vineyards he chooses to highlight at his West Coast Wine • Cheese shop, which opens its second Bay Area location on Friday, Nov. 30 at 31 Sunnyside Ave. in downtown Mill Valley.

“I’m kind of a homer, for sure – it’s all about California, Oregon and Washington,” he says of his Pinot Noir-heavy bottle list of approximately 330 wines. “That’s where my expertise lies, and I really love repping these brands and telling the stories of these winemakers and vineyard owners.”

“And I see us as not being just a place that sells wine, but a space that builds community around our wine and around those stories,” he adds.

The Wanners have planned an extensive opening weekend celebration, where they’ll showcase their inventory and their space, including a chalk-styled mural of the North Bay from ShipsCo. Studio. They’ve already got tasting events on the calendar with Birichino, Carlisle and Law Estate.

The 700-square-foot space is the former home of the Weathered Nest vintage home accessories space adjacent to Kitchen Sunnyside restaurant. It’s set to bring even more liveliness to a street that also boasts Prabh Indian Kitchen, Salvage, The Makery and Alexander’s Artisan Rugs.

​“Mill Valley has always had a downtown that is such a gem,” Wanner says. “This is what every other community in Marin aspires to.”

Wanner and his wife Lindsey, a patent attorney, opened their first West Coast Wine • Cheese shop and gathering spot in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow neighborhood in October 2014. The shop built momentum quickly, and garnered a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in each of the past three years. The Wanners serve mostly wine from small-production winemakers and a rotating list of wines by the glass. They also serve both draft and bottled beers from the West Coast and an array of cheese and charcuterie plates as well as sandwiches, salads, snacks and appetizers.

“When we opened, no one in San Francisco was focused entirely on domestic wines, it was mostly imports, which was a big disconnect for me since so many of those places were so focused on local and organic sourcing for their food program,” Wanner says. “It frustrated me – people are making fantastic wine here and aren’t getting the representation that they’re due,” he adds. “So while some people might think our focus is unimaginative, this was a very deliberate choice about who we want to be.”

Wanner, who grew up in Stockton, got his start in the business at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, the largest wine and spirits distributor in the U.S., and later moved on to work in the tasting room at David Bruce Winery in Los Gatos.  

“That’s where I first learned that sales was for me,” Wanner says. “Once I got behind the bar and got to talking with people about wine, I knew what I wanted to do. And that’s where I fell in love with pinot. It’s the grape that has true elegance and structure and it has chameleon-like qualities that can take it in so many different directions. That’s what makes it so unique and why you never get tired of it because it’s always changing with soil and climate.”

Wanner also worked for Jim Beam’s wine division for a stretch, as well as Geyser Peak in Healdsburg and Wild Horse near Paso Robles. Wanner moved up the food chain into management, developing far-reaching relationships that began giving him the sense that he and Lindsey could launch their own venture.

The couple has a two-year-old son and is moving to San Rafael from their longtime home in San Francisco’s Marina district.
“We’re just really thrilled to be opening here,” Wanner says.

The 411: West Coast Wine • Cheese shop opens its second Bay Area location on Friday, Nov. 30 at 31 Sunnyside Ave. in downtown Mill Valley. Hours are Mon.-Wed., 5-11pm, Thu.-Fri., 4-11pm, Sat., 3-11pm and Sun. 3-10pm. MORE INFO.

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Most of us don’t spend a lot of time thinking about gas stations. They tend to be a fleeting transaction – we want it to be easy, quick and relatively cheap, all so that we can be on our way in a flash.

But for members of the Salkhi family, which has lived in Marin for decades, owned the Chevron station on 5 Ashford Ave. at East Blithedale Ave. since 2005 and been in business in Marin since 1983, they’ve long sought deeper ties to the Mill Valley community than being a significant generator of sales tax revenue, which accounts for as much as 8 percent of the City of Mill Valley's budget.

“This is our community, our kids go to school here, and we are always looking for ways to connect with and support our neighbors,” says Ajee Salkhi.

In recent years, the Salkhis turned that quest into action. They began sponsoring the performance stage at the annual Winterfest celebration, which returns to the Downtown Plaza this Sunday, Dec. 2, featuring a massive slide, a visit from Santa in a fire truck, a full day of live entertainment and music, children's activities, amazing local food and Tree Lighting and Menorah lighting ceremonies.

They also began supporting both with the Mill Valley Chamber’s Enjoy Mill Valley Fund, which seeks to support shovel-ready civic and community engagement projects throughout the 94941, as well as Kiddo, the Mill Valley Schools Community Foundation, which supports arts education and other programs throughout the Mill Valley School District.

They’ve done so with unique partnerships that go beyond one-off or even annual donations. The station donates one cent per every gallon of gas sold at the 5 Ashford station to both the EMV Fund and Kiddo, a sum that, in the case of the Enjoy Mill Valley Fund, adds up to approximately $10,000 per year.

“We’ve been thrilled to have the Salkhi family sponsor the performance stage at Winterfest, and our Enjoy Mill Valley Fund partnership has taken our efforts to raise money to support shovel-ready civic and community engagement projects to a whole new level,” says Mike Son, board chair of the Mill Valley Chamber. “To date, with the help of contributions from the Salkhis, the Outdoor Art Club and an array of generous donors, we’ve helped repair the Downtown Clock Tower, supported the restoration of the replica Gravity Car, made the free Movies in the Park series sustainable and bigger and better than ever and spearheaded a number of plantings and beautification efforts around town, with much more on the way.”

"The ongoing contributions from the Salkhi family's Chevron station have been incredibly helpful in our efforts to support arts education and other vital programs within the Mill Valley School District,” adds Kiddo Executive Director Bill Lampl. “These sorts of partnerships are vital cogs in our community, and we're very grateful."

The Salkhis are in the midst of planning for their station’s future and are hoping to modernize the site.

“Structurally, the building hasn’t changed much at all since the 1950s, so we’d like to update it a bit, add a small car wash and make some environmental upgrades like recycled water,” Salkhi says. “There are quite a few nice benefits to the community.”
Salkhi says they also plan to move bathroom access inside, a move specifically driven by safety concerns in the aftermath of an early morning robbery at the station in February.

They’re awaiting a date on the calendar of the Mill Valley Planning Commission, and have been conducting extensive outreach to neighbors and local organizations like the Mill Valley Streamkeepers to inform them of the plans and solicit feedback.

“We’re excited for the next chapter of this station,” Salkhi says.

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When retail industry veteran Amy Lowery took a job in visual merchandising for Serena & Lily in Sausalito two years ago after stepping away for 10 years to raise her four children, she did so with tempered expectations.

“I wasn’t sure what it would be like after having been away for so long,” says Lowery, a 12-year Mill Valley resident who previously worked at Gap Inc. for 11 years, mostly in merchandising and buying. “But that time was instrumental in knowing that I could go back to work full-time, the kids would be fine and everything would be manageable. It allowed me to feel like I had bandwidth to take on something new.”

That something new is The Edit, “a jewel box of curated women's apparel, handbags and jewelry” within the Mill Valley Lumber Yard at 129 Miller Avenue. Lowery officially opened the shop earlier this month, bringing a long-simmering idea into fruition. She celebrates with a grand opening on Thursday, Nov. 29, 5-8pm as part of the Mill Valley Lumber Yard’s “Enchanted Evenings,” a series of Thursday holiday shopping happy hour events featuring bites and treats from Flour Craft Bakery and the soon-to-open Watershed Restaurant, while MVLY's host of retails tenants, including Ambatalia, Bloomingayles, FarmHouseUrban, Makers Market, Spirited Marin and the newest tenant, Aviator Nation. The series runs through Dec. 20.

“I’m feeling really good – it’s been a wonderful response so far,” says Lowery, who calls her clothing selection a “mix of classics with boho chic vibe with fun prints and colors – East Coast meets West Coast. It seems like the community is excited to have another place to shop.”

So what was the deciding factor in Lowery turning her dream into a reality? As has been the case for many of the Lumber Yard’s ever-growing roster of tenants, it was the vision of Matt and Jan Mathews, and the space they’ve created on the historic property.

“This is a really magical space in the heart of Mill Valley and it feels very tucked away with the gorgeous view of Mount Tam and it’s becoming a great destination for people to come and socialize and be part of the community and shop and dine,” Lowery says. “It just felt like the right place to have a store and I really wanted to be part of that community feeling. I’m excited.”

The 411: Amy Lowery’s The Edit retail shop celebrates its opening on Thursday, 129 Miller Avenue, 5-8pm, as part of the Mill Valley Lumber Yard’s “Enchanted Evenings,” a series of Thursday holiday shopping happy hour events. Free.

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Growing up in the largely middle-class Italian and Jewish neighborhood of Carnarsie in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the 1960s and 70s, Bob Minkin was mesmerized, from some 3,000 miles away, by the explosion of music coming from the Bay Area: Jefferson Airplane, John Cipollina and Quicksilver Messenger Service, Janis Joplin, Santana, the New Riders of the Purple Sage, and of course, Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead.

Like many teens and twenty-somethings of that era, he did something about it. More than 40 years later, Minkin is regarded as one of the Bay Area’s preeminent music photographers. On Dec. 7 at the Depot Bookstore & Cafe, Minkin will present a slideshow of his music photos, sit for a discussion and Q&A and have a meet and greet signing of “The Music Never Stopped,” his latest photography book, which is entirely focused on Marin County’s music scene, particularly the unrelenting live music at Bob Weir’s Sweetwater Music Hall, where he serves as the house photographer, as well as Phil Lesh’s Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael.

The book also features written contributions and stories by many musicians, including Jorma Kaukonen, Steve Kimock, and Bill Kreutzmann, each adding an intimate perspective.

Minkin's journey began in the summer of 1977, right after high school graduation, when Minkin found a “Summer of Love” 10-year anniversary pull-out map of San Francisco within Rolling Stone magazine, complete with locations where the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane had lived in the Haight-Ashbury area. Minkin was geeked to see it all in person, and he somehow convinced his father to book him a cheap round-trip flight to San Francisco.

“I just said to myself, ‘That’s it, I can’t take it anymore, I gotta get out there,” Minkin says. 

He did just that, without any place to stay or a hotel reservation. Upon his arrival, a patient cab driver took him to a few hotels until he found one in the Marina district. He set off for Haight Street, found the Dead’s house on Ashbury, walked around Golden Gate Park and eventually spotted a flyer on a pole promoting the Jerry Garcia Band’s upcoming show on the Embarcadero, featuring Mill Valley’s Maria Muldaur.

Minkin had long been taking his camera with him to shows in New York and elsewhere, mostly to populate his personal scrapbooks. He did so at the Embarcadero concert as well, and was stunned at the results. “Those pictures I took that day were a monumental moment in my life,” he says.

Minkin reached out to a friend whose boyfriend was the publisher of Relix magazine, which published the photos and continues to publish Minkin’s work 40 years later. Minkin came back to San Francisco for the Grateful Dead’s New Year’s Eve shows at Winterland a few months later, this time with a better camera. Those shots convinced him that his concert photography could be more than just a hobby. Those shots occupy 10 pages of his first photography book, “Live Dead,” which came out in 2014.

Minkin didn’t immediately move to the Bay Area back then, as he attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, where he met his eventual wife, Anne Minkin, a wine ambassador for the Boissett Collection. They moved to the Bay Area in 1990, and the couple lives in Novato. Minkin has been as rooted in the Marin and Bay Area-wide music scene as any photographer over the past 40 years.

“I have thousands and thousands of photos going back more than 40 years now,” Minkin says. “It’s pretty overwhelming and you need to frame it to put it into context.”

In searching for a way to do so, Minkin kept coming back to those years after Garcia died in 1995, how the other members of the Grateful Dead moved onto other iterations and also spawned a legion of other bands that “didn’t necessarily play exactly like them but played with their same mentality and vibe,” Minkin says.

Minkin also thought hard about the fact that two Grateful Dead legends, Bob Weir and phil Lesh, opened their own music venues in Marin, the Sweetwater Music Hall and Terrapin Crossroads, respectively, around the same time five years ago. Along with an array of other venues, and the post-Garcia bloom of bands inspired by the Dead, Minkin kept coming back to the Grateful Dead song “The Music Never Stopped,” from their 1975 album Blues for Allah.

“The music really never stopped after Jerry’s death, and especially here in Marin,” Minkin says. “So I framed it around geography, and all of the venues in Marin that have hosted so many great concerts over the years.” 

Marin is the thread, and the medium is the onslaught of great concerts from both Bay Area bands and those from all over the country. "It was a fantastic experience going through these thousands of photos – there have just been so many amazing shows here in Marin over the past 40 years,” Minkin says. “It’s just incredible.”

The 411: Rock photographer Bob Minkin brings his latest book, “The Music Never Stopped,” to the Depot Bookstore & Cafe, 87 Throckmorton Ave., on Friday, Dec. 7 at 7pm. Minkin will present a slideshow of his music photos, sit for a discussion and Q&A and have a meet and greet signing of the book. Free. MORE INFO.

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Make your New Year's Even plans yet?

Murphy Productions and Famous4 Productions have landed one heck of a NYE bash, nabbing Bay Area favorite Petty Theft to perform a New Year's Eve tribute to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the Mill Valley Community Center. The Dec. 31st show kicks off at 9pm with a set from DJ Richard Habib.

Petty Theft is comprised of six Bay Area musicians that came together in 2003 to pay tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. They deliver Petty’s songs true to the originals and in the spirit of his legendary band's live shows, performing everything from his revered classics to his most current hits. The band has always been a major draw, but their popularity has skyrocketed in the wake of Petty's tragic passing in 2017.
 
The band features Adam bagel Berkowitz on drums, Dan Durkin on lead vocals, guitar & harmonica, Django Bayless on bass & vocals, Michael Papenburg on guitar, Mike Emerson on keyboards, and Monroe Grisman on lead guitar & vocals. 

The 411: In a show from Murphy Productions and Famous4 Productions, Petty Theft performs a New Year's Eve tribute to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto. Tix $55-$65. Tix available online and at Famous4, 96 Throckmorton Avenue. MORE INFO & TIX.

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Looking for a different slice of holiday musical fare?

The Community Church of Mill Valley has you covered. On Friday, Dec. 7 at 7pm, the church is hosting Legends of the Celtic Harp as they perform "A Winter Gift," a concert and storytelling event featuring premier Celtic harpists Patrick Ball, Aryeh Frankfurter and Lisa Lynne. The performance, features a number of Celtic legends along with Irish and English literature woven together with beloved and rare pieces of holiday music. 
 
This trio is well known for their first show "Legends of the Celtic Harp," which tells stories and legends of the harp through time. In their new show “A Winter Gift,” storyteller and wire-strung harpist Patrick Ball along with harpers and multi-instrumentalists Lisa Lynne & Aryeh Frankfurter step into the world of Irish and English literature. The trio presents a heartwarming collection of tales and music from Celtic legend and traditional folk stories. They perform a  Child’s Christmas in Wales, a chapter from The Wind in the Willows, and passages from Shakespeare, William Butler Yeats, and Thomas Hardy, and mingle them with beloved and original pieces of seasonal music. Audiences will hear three Celtic Harps, Swedish Nyckelharpa, Fiddle, Bandura, Bouzouki and more.

The 411: The Legends of the Celtic Harp perform "A Winter Gift" at the Community Church of Mill Valley, 8 Olive Street on Friday, Dec. 7 at 7pm. Tix $10-$20. MORE INFO & TIX.

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A Bay Area tradition for 23 years, Singers Marin's uplifting “Tis the Season, Sing Joy!” holiday concert offers a chance to celebrate the season with family and friends. The latest edition, at which seven youth and adult choral ensembles sing seasonal favorites from around the world and fill the room with the holiday spirit, hits the stage at the Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael on Sunday, Dec. 16.

Join Singers Marin founder and artistic director Jan Pedersen Schiff (at left) and her team and sing and tap along with the many cherished seasonal favorites including the traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah, and songs of peace. Guest Artists include the male professional a cappella ensemble, Chorum.  Special visual and lighting effects create an enchanting holiday concert. 

The 411: Singers Marin's “Tis the Season, Sing Joy!” holiday concert hits the stage at the Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium, 10 Ave of the Flags in San Rafael, on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 4pm. Tix $25-$40. MORE INFO & TIX.

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Food insecurity is not an "over there" problem. It's right here, in Mill Valley, and throughout our largely affluent county.

From now through Dec. 28, the Mill Valley Chamber is joining hundreds or organizations across Marin to host a food drive to combat food insecurity, pledging to raise 400 pounds of mostly canned food for the SF-Marin Food Bank. Donations can be made at the Chamber's office at 85 Throckmorton Ave. on the Throckmorton side of the Depot building downtown.

The San Francisco Chronicle's "Hidden Hunger" series seeks to document the plight of individuals and families in the Bay Area, where one in 10 residents earns too little to cover the cost of living, with 62 percent of those, earning too much to qualify for food stamps. As part of the series, the Chronicle recently profiled former Mill Valley preschool director Sheryl Boucher, who used to donate to the SF-Marin Food Bank and now picks up groceries from two of the organization's nearby food pantries – inside the community room at the Hilarita Apartments in Tiburon and at Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Corte Madera – each week, which she says has saved her hundreds of dollars.

Boucher also goes to a free lunch for Marin seniors every Friday. According to SF Marin Food Bank officials, even in one of the wealthiest U.S. counties, Boucher's situation is not unique. One-third of seniors in Marin County live below the self-sufficiency standard of $27,000 per year to cover basic costs of living.

How can you help? Drop off your food donations at the Chamber, with an emphasis on pop-top cans and tear-open pouches of tune, chicken and salmon, as well as canned, low-sodium stews and chilis and nut butters. No pet food, glass containers or opened packages.  

PLEASE DONATE WHAT YOU CAN!

The 411: From now through Dec. 28, the Mill Valley Chamber is hosting a food drive for the SF-Marin Food Bank, pledging to raise 400 pounds of mostly canned food. Donations can be made at the Chamber's office at 85 Throckmorton Ave. on the Throckmorton side of the Depot building downtown. Questions? Call 415.388.9700 or email info@millvalley.org.

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