Enjoy Mill Valley Blog

UPDATE 1.25.21: With the end of the state’s stay-at-home order, downtown Mill Valley eatery is serving to-go food with outdoor seating. Depot Cafe & Bookstore’s Mark Martini, Mary Pult and Paul Lazzareschi. Photo by Gary Ferber. In the words of the late rock legend Tom Petty, “You take it on faith, you take it to…

The new public bathrooms within the Depot building at 87 Throckmorton Avenue. The location of the public bathrooms within the Depot building. In 1984, then-Mill Valley Mayor Richard “Dick” Jessup, who designed the Depot Plaza, first sketched out a downtown public bathroom location on the plaza. Over the following 37 years, loo seekers had options in…

Since his arrival in Mill Valley in 1974, Larry “the Hat” Lautzker, purveyor of hip apparel, producer of an array of live concerts (remember those?) as well as some of the 94941’s most cherished events, including the Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade and the Community Block Party for more than 15 years, has been a force…

The Sweetwater Music Hall crew. For the first time since, well, March, the Mill Valley arts community – largely unable to function because of their inability to gather people in a room to celebrate art in all its splendor – has gotten a few doses of good news on the relief front. Gov. Gavin Newsom…

The future home of the Marin Conservatory of Dance at 365-367 Miller Avenue. Marin Conservatory of Dance founder Melinda Neal, at top right, with her daughter Leilani, along with scenes from classes at the current studio at 448 Miller Avenue. Courtesy images. While there has been plenty of innovation, pivoting and amazing feats of resiliency…

The play, which gets a digital world premiere from Jan. 26 through Feb. 28, originated from playwright Lauren Gunderson’s realization that she was “waking up every day next to someone who specializes in pandemics when we’re in the middle of a pandemic.” Nathan Wolfe on the cover of the July 2020 issue of Wired magazine.…

Mill Valley Little League officials hope to open the season by April but acknowledge that a parade and opening day ceremony is not in the cards for 2021. In a typical January, Mill Valley Little League President Caroline Joachim and her board of directors are feverishly finishing tryouts and readying one of the biggest events…

Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman (SEAC) Ramon “CZ” Colon-Lopez receives a COVID-19 vaccine at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., Dec. 21, 2020. (DOD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Carlos M. Vazquez II). With Marin County’s COVID-19 case counts dipping a bit since the horrific post-holiday surge that triggered an indefinite…

Performing Arts Academy of Marin (PAAM), Mill Valley residents Annie and DJ Thistle’s multi-faceted artistic juggernaut that also includes tumbling and gymnastics hub Tumblespot, is launching on January 18 a new Studio Fine Arts Club Program for students ages 3-6. “This fun and active curriculum allows children to develop social skills and talents at a young age,” the Thistles…

There’s no institution in Mill Valley better equipped at sparking conversation and learning amidst a long-overdue racial equitiy reckoning than the Mill Valley Public Library. To that end, the library is hosting its first-ever city-wide read that looks at what it takes “to think openly and independently – to question our assumptions? We invite you…

Dr. Melanie Ott. Courtesy image. The fight against the novel coronavirus has been the monumental medical challenge of a lifetime, and few know that fight better than one of our neighbors. Mill Valley resident Dr. Melanie Ott, M.D., Ph.D., is the Director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and a professor of medicine at UC San Francisco.…

Carlyce and Nick. In September 2020, the Mill Valley City Council approved a collaboration with ​Covia, a Walnut Creek-based nonprofit organization whose “House Mill Valley,” a program that matches residents with more house than they need with people looking for more affordable housing opportunities than Mill Valley currently offers. The program has already shown some success stories. Take the story…